In Equation 6-3 \(v_{fx}^2\) is the square of the velocity at \(x_f\), but it also equals the square of the object’s \(\textit{speed}\) \(v_f\) at \(x_f\). That’s because \(v_{fx}\) is equal to \(+v_f\) if the object is moving in the positive \(x\) direction and equal to \(-v_f\) if moving in the negative \(x\) direction. In either case,\(v_{fx}^2 = v_{f}^2\) . For the same reason \(v_{ix}^2\) = \(v_{i}^2\) , where \(v_i\) is the object’s speed at \(x_i\). So we can rewrite Equation 6-3 as: