Heather and Matthew walk with an average velocity of 0.98 m/s eastward. If it takes them 34 min to walk to the store, what is their displacement?

1 Answer
Morgan
Aug 27, 2017

Their displacement is #~~2000"m"# East.

Explanation:

The average velocity is given by:

#v_"avg"=(Deltas)/(Deltat)#

  • Where #Deltas# is the displacement (change in position #s#) and #Deltat# is the change in time.

We can rearrange this equation to solve for #Deltas#

#=>color(darkblue)(Deltas=v_"avg"*Deltat)#

Before we put in the given information, however, we'll need to convert either the time or the velocity to coincide with the units of the other value. In other words, if we want a displacement in meters #m#, we'll need to get seconds #s# to cancel. Let's convert minutes to seconds.

#34cancel("minutes")xx(60"seconds")/(1cancel("minutes")#

This gives us #34" minutes"=2040 " seconds"#.

#=>Deltas=(0.98"m"/cancel"s")*(2040cancel"s")#

#=>Deltas=1999.2"m"#

#=>Deltas~~2000"m"#

Displacement is a vector quantity, so we'll also need to provide a direction, which is given as East.

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