a car travels 20 km west, then 20 km south. what is the magnitude of its displacement?
A) 0 km
B) 20 km
C) 28 km
D) 40 km
im not a science person, and the fact that my ap phsyics teacher jumps all over the place doesnt help me much either. thanks for the help

Question

anonymous · Answer

Displacement is simply the distance between the starting and ending positions. It does not take into account the path between those two points. The distance traveled is 40 km, but the displacement is the straight line distance from the starting to end points. Use pathagorous (sp) to get 28 km.

anonymous · Answer

ans C, 28km