A boat is sailing north. Is it possible for the boat to have a velocity toward the north, but still have an acceleration toward the south?

In physics, a vector quantity is a value that has both magnitude (how much) and direction (which way).
Imagine you're walking eastward for five kilometers. This journey can be described by a vector quantity because it's not just about the distance you covered (five kilometers), but also the direction you took (east).
There are other quantities in physics that don't have a direction and are called scalar quantities. For example, if someone says they walked five kilometers, that's a scalar quantity because it lacks the direction component.
In the context of our boat exercise, both velocity and acceleration are vector quantities.
Velocity tells us how fast the boat is moving and in what direction, while acceleration tells us how quickly the velocity is changing and in what direction that change is happening.
Understanding vector quantities is key to problem-solving in physics since they help us accurately describe motion in a physical space.

Deceleration is a term used to describe an object slowing down.
In simpler terms, it's acceleration in the opposite direction of the object's current movement.
If you're riding a bicycle downhill, you might put on the brakes, causing the bike to slow down.
This braking action is deceleration because it reduces your speed.
In the boat example, the boat is moving north (velocity vector pointing north), but experiences a southward acceleration. This southward acceleration is deceleration since it opposes the northward motion.
Over time, the boat's speed decreases due to this southward acceleration.

The rate of change of velocity is essentially what we call acceleration.
It measures how quickly the speed or direction of an object changes.
If you were driving a car and suddenly pressed the accelerator pedal, the car would speed up.
This increase in speed is a positive acceleration.
Conversely, if you hit the brakes, the car would slow down, which is a negative acceleration or deceleration.
Mathematically, acceleration \textbf{a} is defined as the change in velocity \textbf{Δv} over time \textbf{t}, expressed as: \[a = \frac{Δv}{t} \]
In the boat scenario, the boat's velocity is northward, and if there's an acceleration toward the south (opposite direction), it means that the velocity is gradually decreasing. This change in velocity over time due to acceleration is what eventually slows down the boat.