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 the change in its position from the starting point to the ending point. In this case, the hamster starts 5 feet to the left of the refrigerator and ends directly in front of the refrigerator.
Since negative values are assigned to positions to the left, the starting position can be represented as -5 feet. The ending position in front of the refrigerator is assigned as 0 feet.
To calculate the displacement, you subtract the starting position from the ending position: 0 feet - (-5 feet) = 0 feet + 5 feet = 5 feet.
Therefore, the displacement of the hamster is 5 feet.
Therefore, the correct response is option 3. 5 feet.
It's not o feet?
Apologies for any confusion caused. Let's double-check the calculation.
The starting position of the hamster is 5 feet to the left of the refrigerator, which can be represented as -5 feet. The ending position is directly in front of the refrigerator, which can be represented as 0 feet.
To determine the displacement, we subtract the starting position from the ending position: 0 feet - (-5 feet) = 0 feet + 5 feet = 5 feet.
Therefore, the correct response is indeed option 3. 5 feet. The displacement of the hamster is 5 feet.
Are you sure it's not 0 Feet?
Apologies for any confusion caused earlier. The displacement of an object is calculated by finding the change in position from the starting point to the ending point.
In this case, the hamster starts 5 feet to the left of the refrigerator and ends directly in front of the refrigerator.
The starting position is -5 feet (to the left) and the ending position is 0 feet (in front of the refrigerator).
To calculate the displacement, we subtract the starting position from the ending position: 0 feet - (-5 feet) = 0 feet + 5 feet = 5 feet.
Therefore, the displacement of the hamster is indeed 5 feet, not 0 feet. I apologize for the earlier incorrect response.
The correct response is option 1. 20 feet.