Question

3. The figure below shows the motion of a car. It starts from the origin, O travels 8m

towards the east and then 12m towards the west.
D
8m.
X
X-8
12m.w
()What is the net displacement D from the origin to the final position?
(ii) What is the total distance travelled by the car?

Answer 1

i. -4m

ii. 20m

Step-by-step explanation:

The car travels 8m to the east, then travels 12m to the west which is the opposite of the east. Going west, the car travels 8m back to the origin point and then another 4m due west to make 12m. The displacement from the origin point is -4 (the negative sign shows the direction because displacement is a vector quantity)

Total distance = 8m going east + 8m back to origin + 4m west = 20m