In diving a depth of 735m, an elephant seal also moves 600m due east of his starting point. What is the magnitude of the seal's displacement

Draw a diagram. Seal dives 735m down, ends up 600m east. So, making the ocean the top leg, draw a horizontal leg of 600, and a vertical leg of 735. Now, the final displacement is just the length of the hypotenuse.

d = sqrt(735^2 + 600^2) = 949m

To find the magnitude of the seal's displacement, we need to combine the vertical and horizontal distances traveled. This can be done using the Pythagorean theorem, which states that in a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse (the longest side) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.

In this case, we can consider the vertical distance as the height of the triangle (735m) and the horizontal distance as the base of the triangle (600m). So, we have a right triangle with a height of 735m and a base of 600m.

To find the hypotenuse (displacement), we use the formula:

displacement = √(height^2 + base^2)

Substituting the given values:

displacement = √(735^2 + 600^2)
displacement = √(540225 + 360000)
displacement = √(900225)
displacement ≈ 949.688m

Therefore, the magnitude of the seal's displacement is approximately 949.688 meters.