Question

Logan observes a paramecium under a microscope. The eyepiece of the microscope has a horizontal scale marked in mm. The paramecium starts at the 65 mm mark and ends up at the 42 mm mark. What is the paramecium’s displacement?

Answer 1

The paramecium's displacement observed by Logan is -23 mm, which indicates a 23 mm movement in the opposite direction of the scale's increasing value.

Step-by-step explanation:

If Logan observes a paramecium moving from the 65 mm mark to the 42 mm mark on the horizontal scale of a microscope's eyepiece, the paramecium's displacement would be the difference between these two positions. Displacement is defined as the change in position of an object and is a vector quantity, which means it has both magnitude and direction.

To calculate the displacement, you subtract the final position from the initial position. So, if the paramecium starts at 65 mm and ends up at 42 mm, the displacement would be:

Displacement = Final position - Initial position
Displacement = 42 mm - 65 mm
Displacement = -23 mm

The negative sign indicates that the paramecium moved in the opposite direction of the scale's increasing value. Therefore, the magnitude of the displacement is 23 mm, and it is directed from the 65 mm mark toward the 42 mm mark.

Answer 2

- 23 mm

Step-by-step explanation:

Data provided in the question:

Initial position of the paramecium = 65 mm mark

Final position of the paramecium = 42 mm mark

Now,

The Displacement is given as the difference of the Final position and the initial position

Thus,

Paramecium’s displacement = Final position - Initial position

= 42 mm - 65 mm

= - 23 mm