Question

1. the lost homework sarai walks 15 meters north from her desk to the printer, then 15 meters south back to her desk. 1. what is the total distance sarai walked? the total distance that sarai walked was 30 meters. 2. what is her displacement? sarais displacement was | 3. why is her displacement different from her distance?

Explanation:

Step1: Define distance and displacement

Distance is total path length, displacement is straight - line distance from start to end.

Step2: Calculate total distance

She walks 15 meters north and 15 meters south. Total distance $d=15 + 15=30$ meters.

Step3: Calculate displacement

She starts and ends at the same point (her desk). Displacement $\Delta x=0$ meters.

Step4: Explain difference

Distance is scalar (total path), displacement is vector (depends on start and end points only). Since she returns to the starting point, displacement is 0 while distance is non - zero.

Answer:

1. The total distance Sarai walked was 30 meters.
2. Her displacement was 0 meters.
3. Distance is the total length of the path traveled (a scalar quantity), while displacement is the straight - line distance from the initial to the final position (a vector quantity). Since Sarai ended at the same position where she started, her displacement is 0, but she covered a non - zero distance by walking to the printer and back.