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A car travels 50 km East, then 30 km North, then 25 km at 30 degrees East of North. Sketch the vector diagram and determine the total displacement.
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Step-by-step solution
4 stepsHere's the solution for the car's displacement:
Part a
Sketch the vector diagram
To sketch the vector diagram, draw a coordinate system with the origin as the starting point.
- Draw the first vector, , 50 km long, pointing horizontally to the right (East).
- From the head of , draw the second vector, , 30 km long, pointing vertically upwards (North).
- From the head of , draw the third vector, , 25 km long, at an angle of East of North. This means the vector is away from the North axis towards the East.
- Draw the resultant displacement vector, , from the origin (tail of ) to the head of .
Part b
Determine the total displacement of the car
Break down each displacement into its East (x) and North (y) components.
Let East be the positive x-direction and North be the positive y-direction.
For the first displacement, : 50 km East
For the second displacement, : 30 km North
For the third displacement, : 25 km at East of North.
This angle is measured from the North axis. To find the x-component (East), we use , and for the y-component (North), we use .Sum the x-components and y-components to find the total displacement components.
Total East displacement ():
Total North displacement ():
Calculate the magnitude of the total displacement.
The magnitude of the total displacement, , is found using the Pythagorean theorem:
Calculate the direction of the total displacement.
The direction is found using the arctangent function:
Since both and are positive, the direction is North of East.
The total displacement of the car is .
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