Question

A truck moves 60 kilometers east from point A to point B. At point B, it turns back west and stops 15 kilometers away from point A. What are the total distance and total displacement of the truck?

Answer 1

I think total distance is added all up......60 + 45 = 105
Displacement is actual travel based on location....60 - 45 = 15

Hope this is correct.

Answer 2

Distance: 75 km

Displacement: 45 km

Step-by-step explanation:

- Distance is a scalar quantity that refers to the total space covered by an object. It is calculated as the sum of the distances covered in each motion, regardless of their direction. therefore in this case:

distance = 60 km + 15 km = 75 km

- Displacement is a vector quantity whose magnitude is equal to the difference between the final point and the starting point of the motion, so it also takes into account the direction of each motion. In this case, the truck moves 60 km east, and then 15 km west: if we call '0' the starting point, the final point will be then

`p_B = 60 km - 15 km=45 km`

And so the displacement is

`d=p_B - p_A=45 km - 0 = 45 km`