Question

Force and Motion Unit Test
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Question
Two postal delivery workers have different routes. They both travel from the post office, to neighborhoods to deliver mail, and then back to the post office. Which statement must be true about the two postal delivery workers?(1 point)
Responses

They each travel a distance of 0 miles.
They each travel a distance of 0 miles.

They travel the same distance.
They travel the same distance.

They have the same velocity.
They have the same velocity.

They each have a displacement of 0 miles.

Answer 1

To answer the question, we need to analyze the definitions of distance and displacement.

1. **Distance** is the total length of the path traveled, regardless of direction.
2. **Displacement** is the straight-line distance from the starting point to the ending point, considering direction.

Both postal delivery workers start and finish at the same point (the post office), which means their displacements are the same.

However, they likely travel different routes and therefore may cover different distances.

Now, let's evaluate the statements:

- **They each travel a distance of 0 miles.** (False, as they do travel a distance)
- **They travel the same distance.** (False, their routes may differ)
- **They have the same velocity.** (False, velocity involves both speed and direction, and their routes likely differ)
- **They each have a displacement of 0 miles.** (True, since they start and end at the same point)

Therefore, the correct statement that must be true about the two postal delivery workers is:

**They each have a displacement of 0 miles.**