Question

I really need a hand here!

A boat has a displacement of 4 km.

If north is taken as the positive direction, which option correctly describes the displacement of the boat?

1. The boat is north of its starting position but is moving toward the south.
2. The boat is south of its starting position but is moving toward the north.
3. The boat is north of its starting position.
4. The boat is south of its starting position.

Answer 1

The boat is north of its starting position

Step-by-step explanation:

Displacement is defined as the magnitude and direction of movement. We are given that the boat's displacement is positive 4 kilometers. We also know that the north is the positive direction in this problem. This means that boat is north of its starting position (so we can eliminate options 2 and 4). We also have no information about how it is moving after the displacement, so we cannot say that the boat is moving towards the south. This means that we can eliminate option 1. Therefore, the correct answer is that the boat is north of its starting position (3).