Question

A hummingbird flies 2.0 m along a straight path at a height of 5.3 m above the ground. Upon spotting a flower below, the hummingbird drops directly downward 2.4 m to hover in front of the flower. a) What is the magnitude of the hummingbird’s total displacement? Answer in units of m.

Answer 1

To solve this problem we will apply the concepts of Pythagoras to find the net path. An easy way is to graph the path to trace the path, which resembles that of a right triangle. The information provided is equivalent to that of the two short sides of the triangle, so we will find the longest side by the Pythagorean theorem. In this way,

`OC = √(2^2+2.4^2)`

`OC = 3.12m`

Therefore the magnitude of the hummingbird’s total displacement is 3.12m