A hamster in a ball is roaming around the kitchen. Its position changes as follows:

Question

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?

(1 point)
Responses

20 feet
20 feet

0 feet
0 feet

5 feet
5 feet

-5 feet

Answer 1

To find the displacement of the hamster, we need to consider its starting position, its movement, and its final position relative to the refrigerator.

1. Starting position: The hamster starts 5 feet to the left of the refrigerator, which we can denote as -5 feet.

2. First movement: It moves 20 feet to the right of the refrigerator. Since the starting point was -5 feet, moving to the right by 20 feet would mean: -5 feet + 20 feet = 15 feet right of the refrigerator (or +15 feet).

3. Second movement: Finally, it moves in a straight line to the left, ending directly in front of the refrigerator. The refrigerator is at position 0. Therefore, the hamster moves from +15 feet to 0 feet, which is a movement to the left.

Now we can calculate the displacement: Displacement = final position - initial position = 0 feet - (-5 feet) = 5 feet.

So, the displacement of the hamster is 5 feet.

The correct response is 5 feet.