Question

A blue line with 5 orange tick marks then one red tick mark then 4 orange tick marks. The number zero is above the red tick mark.
Assume each tick mark represents 1 cm.

Calculate the total displacement if a toy car starts at 0, moves 5 cm to the left, then 8 cm to the right, and then 3 cm to the left.

The car moves
cm, so there is no displacement.

Answer 1

To calculate the total displacement of the toy car, we need to analyze its movements step by step:

1. **Starts at 0 cm.**

2. **Moves 5 cm to the left:**
- New position = 0 cm - 5 cm = -5 cm.

3. **Moves 8 cm to the right:**
- New position = -5 cm + 8 cm = 3 cm.

4. **Moves 3 cm to the left:**
- New position = 3 cm - 3 cm = 0 cm.

Now, to find the total displacement, we calculate the difference between the final position and the initial position:

- Initial position = 0 cm
- Final position = 0 cm

Displacement = Final position - Initial position = 0 cm - 0 cm = 0 cm.

So, the total displacement of the toy car is **0 cm**.