Her displacement = 18 m
Further explanation
Given
walks 50 m north and 32 m south
Required
displacement
Solution
Displacement shows vector motion that has magnitude and direction.
Displacement only looks at the distance between the starting point and the end point
Because it takes direction into account, a positive or negative sign is required
We determine that in vertical motion the upward direction is positive and the downward direction is negative
While the horizontal movement to the right is positive and the left has a negative sign
Students moving north (from the starting point) are moving positively by + 50 m
then moving south which means moving negative as far as -32 m
So that the displacement is
