Question

A tennis ball moves 18 meters northward, then 22 meters

Answer 1

Answer:

The distance moved is 82 m.

The displacement is 18 m to the south.

Explanation:

The distance is a measure of the total length traveled along the path, while the displacement only takes into account the length between the starting position (departure) and final position (arrival). That is, distance refers to how much space an object travels during its movement, being the amount moved, while displacement refers to the distance and direction of the final position with respect to the initial position of an object.

So, the distance being the sum of the distances traveled, you get:

18 m + 22 m + 14 m + 28 m= 82 m

The distance moved is 82 m.

You know that the tennis ball moves 18 meters to the north, then 22 meters to the south, then 14 meters to the north, and finally 28 meters to the south. Then the tennis ball moves:

• northward:  18 m + 14 m= 32 m
• to the south: 22 m + 28 m=  50 m

Calculating the displacement as the difference between the final position and the initial position, you get:

displacement= 50 m - 32 m= 18 m

The displacement is 18 m to the south.