Can the kinetic energy of a body be negative?

No, the kinetic energy of a body cannot be negative in classical physics. Kinetic energy is a measure of the energy of motion of an object and is given by the formula:

KE = (1/2) * m * v^2

Where:

KE is the kinetic energy
m is the mass of the object
v is the velocity of the object
Since both mass (m) and the square of velocity (v^2) are always non-negative quantities, the kinetic energy (KE) will also always be non-negative. In other words, the kinetic energy of a body can be zero or positive, but it cannot be negative in classical physics.

However, in certain specialized areas of physics, such as quantum mechanics, the concept of energy can become more complex, and there are situations where energy values can be negative relative to a defined reference point, but this is a different context and not related to classical kinetic energy.