Find the total displacement of a mouse that travels 1.0m north and then 0.8m south.
Since south = -north,
1.0 - 0.8 = 0.2
I'll let you figure out the direction of the final displacement...
north
To find the total displacement, we need to determine the vector sum of the two displacements.
1. Convert the directions to a common frame of reference. In this case, let's use the positive direction to represent north and the negative direction to represent south.
- The displacement of 1.0m north is represented as +1.0m.
- The displacement of 0.8m south is represented as -0.8m.
2. Add the displacements together:
+1.0m + (-0.8m) = 1.0m - 0.8m = 0.2m
3. The total displacement of the mouse is 0.2 meters in the north direction.