Question

Josh rowed a boat 1 mile out into the lake, then turned right and rowed another 1/2 mile. Draw a vector diagram that shows his resultant displacement. Be sure to label all vectors

Answer 1

Hi! Any idea where to start?

Answer 2

A vector is just a little bit more than a normal number. It has more than one component. It still has an overall magnitude and orientation. Orientation is often going to be "direction," for your course.

The displacement is just the vector that goes from the starting point to the end point.

For magnitude, let's look at your first vector, which is rowing out 1 mile. This magnitude is 1 mile.

Let's look at your second vector. It is in the direction to the right (at a \(90^\circ\) angle from the first direction). Its magnitude is.... \(\frac{1}{2}\)mile.

You can draw that. Then you draw the displacement. Chances are, you made a "right triangle" and you can use Pythagorean's Theorem to find the "magnitude" of the displacement vector.