Ann drove to the store 10 km north of her house and then drove to the library, which is 5 km south of the store. She drove a total distance of 15 km. What was Ann's displacement?
d = 10 - 5 = 5km
To find Ann's displacement, we need to consider her starting point and ending point regardless of the path she took. Displacement is a vector quantity that represents the change in position from the initial point to the final point.
In this scenario, Ann's starting point is her house, and her ending point is the library. So, we need to determine the straight-line distance and direction from her house to the library.
To do this, we can draw a diagram. Let's assume that moving north is the positive direction (+) and moving south is the negative direction (-).
Starting from Ann's house, if she drives 10 km north to the store, we can represent this as +10 km. Then, if she drives 5 km south to the library, we can represent this as -5 km.
Now, to find Ann's displacement, we need to add up the distances, taking into account the signs (+ or -).
Displacement = (+10 km) + (-5 km)
Adding these, we get:
Displacement = +10 km - 5 km
Simplifying, we have:
Displacement = +5 km
Therefore, Ann's displacement is 5 km to the north.