Question

a jogger runs 218 meters eastward then 72 meters westard then 62 meters eastward and finally 184 meters westward. For this motion what is the distance moved

Answer 1

Answer:

Total distance = 536 m

Total displacement = 24 m

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.

For the question at hand, it's not known if the requirement is about the distance or the displacement, so we will compute both.

To compute the distance, we just add all the distances:

dtotal= 218 m + 72 m + 62 m + 184 m = 536 m

To compute the displacement, we must establish a positive direction as desired. Let's choose the east as the positive direction. Any movement eastward is considered positive and any movement westward is negative. We mentioned the displacement is a vector, but since we only have movement in the x-axis, we can only manage the signs. Thus, the total displacement is:

xtotal = 218 m - 72 m + 62 m -- 184 m = 24 m

Since the result is positive, the jogger stopped 24 meters eastward form the original point.