Question

In which variable is the position of the particle represented?

1) x
2) v
3) k
4) None of the above

Answer 1

The position of a particle is represented by the variable x. It defines the location of a particle in a reference frame at a specific time, differing from variables like v for velocity or k for constants.

Step-by-step explanation:

In physics, the position of a particle is represented by the variable x. The position tells us where the particle is located in a given reference frame at a specific point in time. Variables such as v (velocity) and k (a constant, sometimes representing the spring constant in Hooke's law or the Boltzmann constant in thermodynamics) do not represent position. For a particle moving along the x-axis, the position might be given as x(t), where t is time. For example, if the position of a particle is described by x(t) = 4.0 - 2.0t m, we can understand that this equation determines the location of the particle on the x-axis at any given time.

When dealing with displacement, we are interested in the change in position of the particle. In the example where the particle's position changes from ℓ₁ = (2.0 î+3.0ȷ)cm to r₂ = (-4.0î + 3.0ȷ) cm, the displacement is found by subtracting the initial position vector from the final position vector.