Question

A squirrel is trying to locate some nuts he buried for the winter. He moves 4.3 m to the right of a stone and dogs unsuccessfully. Then he moves 1.1 m to the left of his hole, changes his mind, and moves 6.3 m to the right of that position and digs a second hole. No luck. Then he moves 8.0 m to the left and digs again. He finds a nut at last. What is the squirrel's total displacement from his starting point

Answer 1

Answer:

The total displacement from the starting point is 1.5 m.

Explanation:

You need to sum and substract, depending on the movement (to the right, sum; to the left, substract).

First, it moves 4.3 m right and return 1.1 m. So the new distance from the starting point is 3.2 m.

Second, it moves 6.3 m right, so the new distance is 9.5 m.

Finally it moves 8 m to the left, so 9.5 m - 8 m= 1.5 m.

Summarizing, at the end the squirrel is 1.5 m from its starting point.