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Anthony walks to the pizza place for lunch. he walk 1 km east, then 1 km south and then 1 km east again. what distance did he cover? what was his displacement?

User Kakarot
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2 Answers

4 votes

Final answer:

Anthony walked a total distance of 3 km, but his displacement is around 2.24 km in the southeast direction, calculated using the Pythagorean theorem for the triangular path he took.

Step-by-step explanation:

Anthony covered a total distance of 3 km by walking 1 km east, then 1 km south, and then 1 km east again. However, his displacement, being the shortest straight line distance from his starting point to his ending point, will be different. To calculate his displacement, we must consider the path in a two-dimensional plane as a right-angled triangle, where the two 1 km east segments form one side, and the 1 km south segment forms the other side of the right-angled triangle.

The displacement is the hypotenuse of this right-angled triangle. The sum of his eastward distances is 2 km (1 km + 1 km), which will be the base, and the southward distance of 1 km will be the height. Using the Pythagorean theorem, the displacement (the hypotenuse) can be computed as √(2 km)^2 + (1 km)^2, which equals approximately 2.24 km in the southeast direction.

User Kapreski
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5 votes
he covered an amount of 2 km to east and one to south. the displacement, yeah i dont have that sorry :[
User Anthony Shahine
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