Final answer:
The car's displacement is calculated by subtracting the distance traveled west from the distance traveled east. With 50 km eastward followed by 30 km westward, the car's displacement is 20 km towards the east.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks us to calculate the displacement of a car after it travels 50 km east and then 30 km back west. Displacement is a vector quantity that represents the change in position of an object and is defined as the straight-line distance between the starting point and the ending point of the journey, along with the direction of that straight line.
To calculate the displacement of the car:
- The car first travels 50 km east, which we can denote as +50 km.
- Then it travels 30 km west, which is opposite to the direction of east, so we denote this as -30 km.
- To find the overall displacement, we add these two quantities together: 50 km (+east) - 30 km (west) = 20 km east.
The displacement of the car is therefore 20 km towards the east.