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

-5 feet
-5 feet

0 feet
0 feet

20 feet
20 feet

5 feet

Answer 1

To determine the displacement of the hamster, we first need to clarify the starting position and the ending position relative to the refrigerator.

1. The hamster begins its journey 5 feet to the left of the refrigerator. We can assign this position as -5 feet (since it's to the left).
2. It then travels 20 feet to the right. Starting from -5 feet and moving 20 feet to the right, we calculate the new position:
\[
-5 + 20 = 15 \text{ feet}
\]
3. The hamster ends its journey directly in front of the refrigerator, which is at 0 feet.

Now, we calculate the displacement. Displacement is defined as the difference between the final position and the initial position:
\[
\text{Displacement} = \text{Final Position} - \text{Initial Position} = 0 - (-5) = 0 + 5 = 5 \text{ feet}
\]

Thus, the displacement of the hamster is **5 feet**.