Question

A car drives 16 miles south and then 12 miles west. what is the magnitude of the car’s displacement?

Answer 1

Answer: 20 miles

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

Car's displacement is 20 miles

Step-by-step explanation:

The shortest path covered by a particle is called its displacement. It is given that, a car drives 16 miles south and then 12 miles west.

From the attached figure, OA = 12 miles

OB = 16 miles

So, their resultant is equal to the displacement, i.e. AB. So,

`AB=√(OA^2+OB^2)`

`AB=√(12^2+16^2)`

AB = 20 miles

So, the car's displacement is 20 miles. Hence, this is the required solution.