A hamster in a ball is roaming around the kitchen. Its position changes as follows:
it starts 5 feet to the left of a refrigerator
moving in a straight line, it travels 20 feet to the right of the refrigerator
it moves in a straight line to the left, ending directly in front of the refrigerator.
If negative values are assigned to positions to the left of its starting position and positive values are assigned to positions to the right of its starting position, what is the displacement of the hamster?
Responses
1. 20 feet
2, 0 feet
3. 5 feet
4. -5 feet
The displacement of an object is defined as the change in position from the starting point to the final point.
In this scenario, the hamster starts 5 feet to the left of the refrigerator. It then moves 20 feet to the right of the refrigerator, and finally moves back to the left, ending directly in front of the refrigerator.
The displacement of the hamster can be calculated by finding the difference between its final position and its starting position.
Starting Position: -5 feet
Final Position: 0 feet
The final position of the hamster is 0 feet, which means it ended directly in front of the refrigerator.
Therefore, the displacement of the hamster is 0 feet.
Therefore, the correct response is:
2. 0 feet