i do not understand this question and by the way this is not my homework.

Reggie sets out from home on his bicycle.First he goes to the shop, which is 500 m away, he then rides to his friend's house which is a further 1200m.He then returns home.
what total distance has Reggie travelled when he returns home?

2(500 + 1200) = __________ m

If you found this question in a physics book, watch the wording.

If they asked for "distance", then Ms Sue told you how to do it.
If they ask for "displacement", that is the magnitude of the vector between the start and the finish which is zero.

To find the total distance that Reggie traveled when he returned home, you need to add up the distances of each leg of the journey.

In this case, Reggie first goes to the shop, which is 500 meters away. Then he rides to his friend's house, which is a further 1200 meters. Finally, he returns home, which means he rides the same distance as when he went to his friend's house, which is another 1200 meters.

To get the total distance, add up the distances: 500 + 1200 + 1200 = 2900 meters.

Therefore, Reggie traveled a total distance of 2900 meters when he returned home.