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Two bicycle riders start at the same point. Bicycle I rides 0.50 m due east, then 0.8 m at 30° North of East Bicycle 2 also undergoes two displacements: the first is 1.6 m at 40° east of north. What must be the magnitude and displacement of Bicycle 2 if it is to end up at the new location of Bicycle I?

User Madhav Jha
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Final answer:

The question asks for the magnitude and direction of a second displacement for a bicyclist, which involves vector addition and trigonometry in physics. By breaking displacements into components and applying the Pythagorean theorem, you can find the resultant displacement.

Step-by-step explanation:

The problem you've presented involves finding the magnitude and direction of a second displacement for bicycle 2 so that it will end in the same location as bicycle 1, given the first displacement of bicycle 1 and bicycle 2. This is a physics problem that involves vector addition and trigonometry to solve for the resultant displacement vector.

To solve problems like this, you would typically break each displacement into its north-south and east-west components, sum these components separately, and then use the Pythagorean theorem and trigonometry to find the resultant displacement and direction.

As an example unrelated to the initial question, if a cyclist rides 3 km west (negative displacement in the east-west direction) and then turns around and rides 2 km east, their displacement would be -1 km (since east is positive and west is negative), and their total distance traveled would be 5 km. The magnitude of the displacement is the absolute value of the displacement, so it would be 1 km regardless of direction.

User Adelino Silva
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