Question

An airliner flies from Chicago to New York. Due to the shape of the earth; the airliner must follow a curved trajectory. How does the curved trajectory of the airliner affect its final displacement for this trip?

Answer 1

the displacement is the same as it would be if the airliner flew in a straight line to New York

Step-by-step explanation:

Displacement of any object traveling on a path is the minimum distance between the initial and final point of the entire trip.

Here, the initial point is Chicago and the final point is New York. It the path the plane would take does not affect the distance. The minimum distance between Chicago and New York would be the displacement.

The minimum distance would be if the airliner flew in a straight line to New York which is the displacement.