Question

Patrick walks 6 meters to the south, 3 meters west, 2 meters to the north, and 5 meters to the east. Which of the following is true?

A. His displacement was 4 meters.
B. His distance traveled was 6 meters.
C. His distance traveled was 16 meters.
D.His displacement was 17 meters.

Answer 1

First we need to understand the meanings of displacement and distance traveled, displacement is the direct magnitude that comprehends two points the starting and the ending point. And the distance traveled as the name says it, is all the magnitudes of distance we took to take from a starting point to an ending point, in this case our distance traveled is the addition of all the distances they gave us.

Basically the answer is C, because the addition is 6+3+2+5 = 16. As we know that the distance traveled is the addition of all the magnitudes of distance it took us to get from a starting point to the ending point.