Question

What is the largest possible displacement resulting from two displacements with magnitudes 3m and 4m? what is the smallest possible resultant? draw sketches to demonstrate your answers?

Answer 1

The largest possible displacement you can get by combining the two of them is if they're both in the SAME direction. You walk 3 meters, stop for a breath, then walk another 4 meters in the same direction as the first one. The resultant is 7 meters.

The smallest possible resultant is 1 meter, if the two displacements are in OPPOSITE directions. This time, you walk 4 meters, stop for a breath, then you TURN AROUND and walk 3 meters back in the direction you came from. You end up 1 meter from where you started.

Answer 2

Answer:

largest displacement = 7 m

smallest displacement = 3 m

Explanation:

Displacement is a vector quantity. Net displacement means shortest distance between two positions. It can be calculated by:

Displacement = final position - initial position

largest displacement would be when the two displacement vectors would be in same direction.

Then, largest displacement = 3 m + 4 m = 7 m

Smallest displacement would be when the two vectors would be in opposite direction = 4 m - 3 m = 1 m