Question

A hamster in a ball begins its journey 5 feet to the left of a refrigerator, travels 20 feet to the right of the refrigerator, and ends its journey 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? (1 point) Responses 20 feet 20 feet 5 feet 5 feet 0 feet 0 feet -5 feet

Answer 1

The displacement of an object is defined as the change in position from its initial position to its final position. In this scenario, the hamster starts 5 feet to the left of the refrigerator and ends directly in front of the refrigerator.

If we assign negative values to positions to the left of its starting position and positive values to positions to the right, the hamster's starting position would be -5 feet and its final position would be 0 feet.

To find the displacement, we subtract the initial position from the final position:

Displacement = Final position - Initial position
Displacement = 0 feet - (-5 feet)
Displacement = 0 feet + 5 feet
Displacement = 5 feet.

Therefore, the hamster's displacement is 5 feet.