Question

Read each statement below carefully and state with reason and examples, if it is true or false.
A scalar quantity is one that
(a) is conserved in a process
(b) can never take negative values
(c) must be dimensionless
(d) does not vary from one point to another in space
(e) has the same value for observers with different orientations of axes.

Answer 1

a) False, because kinetic energy is a scalar but does not remain conserved in an inelastic collision.
b)False, because potential energy in a gravitational field may have negative values.
c) False, because mass, length, time, speed, work etc. all have dimensions.
False, because speed, energy etc., vary from point to point in space.
e) True, because a scalar quantity will have the same value for observes with different orientations of axes since a scalar has no direction of its own.