Question

A giraffe trots 3.40 km due north, then 2.60 km due west. what is the magnitude of its displacement?

Answer 1

R=(x^2+y^2)^(1/2)
R= 4.28

Answer 2

First, draw a picture to help you visualize what is happening. I attached my picture below. 

Before you do the Pythagorean theorem make sure to convert the lengths to meters by multiplying by 1000.

(in case my handwriting is too messy to read)
Here is what I wrrote on my paper poiting at the blue displacement vector: " The magnitude of this displacement vector will be a combination of length and direction of the hypotenuse(blue vector) or this triangle. 

To solve for the length use the Pythagorean theorem(where "c" is the hypotenuse):
a= 3400 meters
b= 2600 meters
$c^{2} = a^{2} + b^{2}$
$c= \sqrt{( a^{2} + b^{2} )}$
$c= \sqrt{( (3400^{2}) +(2600^{2}) )}$
$c= \sqrt{( (11,560,000) +(6,760,000) )}$
$c= \sqrt{ (18,320,000) }$
c=4,280.2 meters Northwest