Final answer:
The total distance the physics teacher walked is 16 meters, and the displacement is 4 meters south.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question involves a physics teacher walking a certain path and requires the calculation of both her total distance traveled and displacement. The teacher walks 6 meters east, then 4 meters south, and finally 6 meters west. To find the total distance, we simply add up the lengths of the paths traveled, without considering the direction. However, displacement is a vector quantity that does consider direction, so we must calculate it by determining the net change in position.
To calculate displacement, we note that the east and west movements cancel each other out because they are in opposite directions and of equal magnitude. The only remaining movement is 4 meters south. Thus, the displacement is 4 meters directly south.
The total distance traveled is the sum of all individual distances: 6 meters + 4 meters + 6 meters, which equals 16 meters. The displacement, as previously stated, is 4 meters south. This is because displacement considers the shortest path from the starting point to the final point and the direction of that path.