Question

A physics student walks 6 meters east, 4 meters north, then 9 meters

west. What is the student's magnitude of displacement from starting
position?

Answer 1

5 m

Step-by-step explanation:

Displacement is the straight-line distance from the starting point to the end point. Student ends up 4m north and 3m west from where he started. Use pythagorean theorem to solve for displacement (d).

d² = 3² + 4² = 25

d =
`√(25)` = 5 m

Or, if you remember from geometry, a right triangle with legs of 3 and 4 has a hypotenuse of 5 (3-4-5 right triangle)