Question

Coach Sweeney walks 24 yards to the north along the sideline, pauses, and walks 11

yards back to the south. Determine Coach's resultant displacement.

Answer 1

13 yards north.

Step-by-step explanation:

Distance and Displacement

A moving object constantly travels for some distance at defined periods of time. The total moved distance is the sum of each individual distance the object traveled. It can be written as:

dtotal=d1+d2+d3+...+dn

This sum is obtained independently of the direction the object moves.

The displacement only takes into consideration the initial and final points of the path defined by the object in its moving. The displacement, unlike distance, is a vectorial magnitude and can be even zero if the object starts and ends the movement at the same point.

Coach Sweeney walks 24 yards north and 11 yards back south. If Coach Sweeney started at the origin, the first walk ends in point (0,24). After going back 11 yards, the final point is (0,13).

Since the displacement only takes the initial and final points, we can say the resultant displacement was 13 yards north.