an ant walks 4 cm East, gets some rest, and continues for another 3 cm in the same direction.
What is the total displacement traveled by the ant?
"Total displacement" is how far the ant has travelled from the starting point. Note that, in this case, it keeps going in the same direction.
Surely you can figure this out by yourself.
To find the total displacement traveled by the ant, we need to determine the net or overall change in position. Displacement is a vector quantity that indicates both the magnitude (distance) and direction of movement.
In this case, the ant walks 4 cm East initially. Since East is the positive x-direction, we can assign +4 cm as the initial displacement. Then the ant continues for another 3 cm in the same direction, so we can add +3 cm to the initial displacement.
Total displacement = initial displacement + additional displacement
= +4 cm + 3 cm
= +7 cm
Therefore, the total displacement traveled by the ant is +7 cm East.