A cute puppy walks 20 m at 30 degrees north of east and then continues another 45 m at 15 degrees south of east. Find the magnitude of the puppy's net displacement (or the distance from the starting point)

Question

A cute puppy walks 20 m at 30 degrees north of east and then continues another 45 m at 15 degrees south of east.  Find the magnitude of the puppy's net displacement (or the distance from the starting point)

bobpursley · Answer

break each up into N, E components, then add. 20sin30N + 20cos30E -45sin15N+45cos15E=R now combine the N, E vectors xxxxN + yyyyE= R magnitude of R=sqrt(xxxx^2 + yyyy^2)