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The distance between P and Q is approximately 2479 feet. What is the geographical location of point P?

a) North
b) South
c) East
d) West

1 Answer

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Final answer:

The location of point P cannot be determined with the distance alone. Geographical location requires specific directional information. Problems involving directions and distances use vector concepts such as components, magnitudes, and resultant vectors.

Step-by-step explanation:

The geographical location of point P cannot be determined with the information given. The distance between two points does not provide their specific geographical locations such as north, south, east, or west. To solve problems related to distance and direction in Physics, one often uses vectors; these questions typically involve breaking down displacements into components, calculating the resultant vector for an overall displacement, or using trigonometry to find magnitudes and angles.

Displacement is a vector quantity with both magnitude and direction. It is defined as the shortest path between the initial and final positions of an object. For example, in the case of walking 32° north of west and then 35° east of south, the individual displacements would be represented as vectors, and their combination would give the total displacement of the person.

The direction and magnitude of a vector determine its specific components along the North-South and East-West axes, which can be found using trigonometric functions. Finally, vector addition is used to find the resultant vector, which represents the overall displacement from the starting point.

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