Yes. Two random examples: The work done to stop a car (by applying the brakes) is negative work since the force and displacement are opposite. If you take the top of a hill as your reference (zero) point, then the gravitational potential energy of an object at the bottom of the hill would be negative.
Can energy be a negative number?
Potential energy can be negative, and often is. Any attractive force has a negative potential energy. If you take an electron and positron together, the total energy shrinks as you move them closer together, because the coulomb potential becomes more negative.
What forms of energy can be negative?
Expert Answer:
- Yes mechanical energy can be negative. ...
- Negative sign in the energy does not have anything to do with the direction. ...
- The kinetic energy is always positive, but the potential energy can be negative.
