What does positive and negative speed/velocity mean?

F500 j of energy were added to 1 kg of each of these samples, which would experience the least temperature increase?

Global warming will produce rising sea levels partly due to melting ice caps but also due to the expansion of water as average ocean temperatures rise. to get some idea of the size of this effect, calculate the change in length of a column of water 1.00 km high for a temperature increase of 1.00ºc. note that this calculation is only approximate because ocean warming is not uniform with depth. (answer in ×10^{-3} −3 m)

You throw a baseball directly upward at time =0 at an initial speed of 14.9 m/s. what is the maximum height the ball reaches above where it leaves your hand? ignore air resistance and take =9.80 m/s2.