Question

Timmy bikes to school 3 kilometers east and 2 kilometers south. What is Timmy's final displacement?

Answer 1

Answer:

3.6km South East

Explanation:

Displacement is the shortest distance between the starting point and the ending point and the direction it is displaced in. To calculate the displacement we can use the pythagoras theorem because the 3km East and the 2km south form the two shorter sides of a right angled triangle between the starting and ending points. So, the displacement is the length C of the triangle which we can calculate as follows:

Pythagoras Theorem:

a^2+b^2=c^2

(2)^2+(3)^2=c^(2)

4+9=c^2

Square root 13 = c

c=3.6km (1dp)

The total displacement is 3.6km and is in the approximate direction of South East (because he travelled east and south).

Hope this helped!