Question

A person moves a distance 3 km towards east, then 3 km towards north and 1 km towards east. Find : (a) Distance covered by person (b) Displacement covered

Answer 1

(a). Distance covered by the man = 3 + 3 + 1

= 7 km.

(b). A person moves 3 km in east direction, i.e. x -axis.= $3\hat{i}$

Displacement in y axis, i.e. 3 km North = $3\hat{j}$

Displacement in x axis, i.e. 1 km East = $1\hat{i}$

Total Displacement in x - axis = $3\hat{i} + 1\hat{i}$

= $4\hat{i}$

Now. Total displacement of the person = $4\hat{i} + 3\hat{j}$

∴ Magnitude of the Displacement = √(4² + 3²)

= √25

= 5 km.

Hence, the Magnitude of the Displacement is 5 km.

Hope it helps.