Question

A boat moves 60 kilometers east from point A to point B. There, it reverses direction and travels another 45 kilometers toward point A. What are the total distance and total displacement of the boat?

Answer 1

first the boat moves from A to B..then B to C
AB=60 km
CB=45 km..

Answer 2

displacement = the distance between final and initial point..

Answer 3

Total distance = 60 km + 45 km = 105 km
Total displacement = 60 - 45 km = 15 km

Learn more about Distance and Displacement http://physics.tutorvista.com/motion/distance-and-displacement.html

Answer 4

Slightly expanding on souvik's response;

For distance, you want how much distance you covered. Like, when walking, every step counts. That is from \(A\) to \(B\) and \(B\) to \(C\). So, mathematically, \(\overline{AC}+\overline{CB}\).
[[ For math buffs, I *think* this notation is correct... Since it's not a vector, direction is not considered, and thus all values are positive. I think this is like what I did in high school geometry. ]]

For displacement just keep in mind that you're trying to find the \(\overline{AC}\), because that's what displacement is. It's how far away you are from where you were. Distance between your original position and your new position.