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Sally walks 3 meters up and 4 meters left. What is the magnitude of Sally’s displacement?

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Final Answer:

Sally's displacement has a magnitude of 5 meters.

Step-by-step explanation:

We can treat Sally's movements as changes in coordinates on a two-dimensional plane, with "up" being positive on the y-axis and "left" being negative on the x-axis. Therefore, her movement can be represented as a vector with components (3 meters, -4 meters).

To find the magnitude of this displacement vector, we use the Pythagorean theorem:

Magnitude = √(3^2 + (-4)^2)

= √(9 + 16)

= √25

= 5 meters

Therefore, the total distance Sally moved regardless of direction, which is her displacement, is 5 meters.

User Simon Borsky
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