A car moves 5 km to the east, then 3 km to the north, and then 1 km to the east again. What is his displacement from his original position? Write your answer to the nearest tenth. Don't forget to include direction.

Question

Hayden Callahan

Chemistry

14 August, 15:13

A car moves 5 km to the east, then 3 km to the north, and then 1 km to the east again. What is his displacement from his original position? Write your answer to the nearest tenth. Don't forget to include direction.

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Answers (1)

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Aracely Hahn · Answer 1

The displacement is 6.7 km to the northeast.

Displacement = 5 km + 1 km = 6 km to the east and 3 km to the north.

The net displacement is the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle with sides

6 km and 3 km.

According to Pythagoras' Theorem,

a^2 + b^2 = c^2, where c is the hypotenuse and a and b are the other two sides.

c^2 = (6 km) ^2 + (3km) ^2 = 36 km^2 + 9 km^2 = 45 km^2

c = √ (45 km^2) = 6.7 km NE