Question

A man has to go 100m north, 80m due East and 40m due South to reach a field. What is the distance and displacement.​

Answer 1

The man's total distance traveled is 220 meters while his displacement, calculated using Pythagoras theorem, comes to approximately 100 meters in the North-East direction.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the field of physics, distance is the total length traveled by an object and displacement is the shortest distance from start to end point, regardless of the path taken.

For the given problem, the man traveled 100m North, then 80m East, and finally 40m South. So, the total distance he traveled is 100m + 80m + 40m = 220m.

For displacement, imagine it as a right triangle, where 100m north and 40m south amounts to 60m in the North direction ultimately and 80m is in the East direction. Using the Pythagoras theorem, the displacement (√((60m)²+(80m)²)) will be approximately 100m in the North-East direction.

Learn more about Distance and Displacement