1.1.

2 In Class or Homework Exercise

1. A delivery truck travels 18 blocks north, 16 blocks east, and 10 blocks south.
What is its final displacement from the origin?
The final displacement is the sum of all of the individual displacements:

d
d y

d x

d y  18  (10)
d x  16blocks
 8 blocks

d y
tan  
d  d  d
2
x
2
y
d x
8
 (16) 2  (8) 2 
16
 18blocks   27

d  18 blocks, 27 N of E

2. A hiker leaves camp and, using a compass, walks 4 km E, 6 km S, 3 km E, 5

km N, 10 km W, 8 km N, and 3 km S. At the end of three days, the hiker is
lost. Compute how far the hiker is from camp and which direction should be
taken to get back to camp.
This time we need to know the vector that goes from where the hiker ended to
where he started, so we are actually looking for the negative of the
displacement vector.

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  d

d x  4  3  (10) d y  (6)  5  8  (3)

 3km  4km

So d x  3km and d y  4km

 d

dt  dtx2  dty2

4
tan  
 32  42 3
 5km   50
The hiker must go 5km in a direction 50 S of E to get back to camp.

3. A car is driven 30.0 km west and then 80.0 km southwest. What is the
displacement of the car from the point of origin (magnitude and direction)?
The term southwest means that the direction is halfway between south and
west, so the angle is 45 .

dt  d1  d2

RRHS Physics Page 27

 d 2 x d1

d 2 y d 2 d ty
dt

d tx

d 2 x  d cos  d 2 y  d sin 
 (80.0) cos 45  (80.0) sin 45
 56.6km  56.6km

dtx  d1  d 2 x
dty  d 2 y
 30.0  (56.6)
 56.6km  86.6km

dtx
tan  
dt  dtx2  dty2 dty
86.6
 (86.6) 2  (56.6) 2 
56.6
 103km   56.8

d  103km, 56.8 W of S

4. An explorer walks 22.0 km north, and then walks in a direction 60.0 south of
east for 47.0 km.
a. What distance has he travelled?
dt  d1  d 2
 22.0  47.0
 69.0km
b. What is his displacement from the origin?
dt  d1  d2

RRHS Physics Page 28

 d 2 x

d 2 y

d ty
dt

d tx

d 2 x  d 2 cos  d 2 y  d 2 sin 
 (47.0)(cos 60.0)  (47.0)(sin 60.0)
 23.5km  40.7km

dty  d1  d 2 y
dtx  d 2 x
 22.0  (40.7)
 23.5km
 18.7km

dtx
tan  
dt  dtx2  dty2 dty
23.5
 (23.5) 2  (18.7) 2 
18.7
 30.0km  51.5

dt  30.0km,51.5 E of S

c. What displacement vector must he follow to return to his original

location?
To get back to his original location, he must follow the negative of his
displacement vector:

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 dt
dty

dtx

The magnitude will still be the same; the angle will be

90.0  51.5  38.5
The vector that he must follow is
d  30.0km,38.5 N of W

5. A man walks 3.0 km north, 4.5 km in a direction 40. east of north, and 6.0
km in a direction 60. south of east. What is his displacement vector?
dt  d1  d2  d3

d 2 x d 3 x

d 2 y
d 2 d 3 d 3 y

d1 dt
d ty

d tx

d 2 x  d 2 sin 40. d 2 y  d 2 cos 40.

 (4.5) sin 40.  (4.5) cos 40.
 2.9km  3.4km

d3 x  d3 cos 60. d3 y  d3 sin 60.

 (6.0) cos 60.  (6.0)sin 60.
 3.0km  5.2km

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 dtx  d 2 x  d3 x dty  d1  d 2 y  d3 y
 2.9  3.0  3.0  3.4  (5.2)
 5.9km  1.2km

dty
tan  
dt  d  d2
tx
2
ty
dtx
1.2
 (5.9)2  (1.2)2 
5.9
 6.0km   11

dt  6.0km,11 N of E

6. After the end of a long day of travelling, Slimy the Slug is 255 cm east of his
home. If he started out the day by travelling 90.0 cm in a direction 25o east of
north in the morning, how far did he travel in the afternoon (and in what
direction) to get to his final location?
dt  255cm E
d1  90.0cm, 25 E of N
d 2  ?

dt  d1  d 2
d 2  dt  (d1 )

As can be seen, this problem can be solved as a vector subtraction problem:

dt

d 2 y d 2
d1 d1y

d 2 x d1x

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 d1x  d1 sin 25 d1 y  d1 cos 25
 (90.0) sin 25  (90.0) cos 25
 38cm  82cm

d 2 x  dt  (d1x )
d 2 y  d1 y
 255  (38)
 217cm  82cm

d 2 x
tan  
d 2  d  d
2
2x
2
2y
d 2 y
217
 (217) 2  (82) 2 
82
 232cm   69

d2  232cm, 69 E of S

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