A hamster in a ball begins its journey 10 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.

Question

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

10 feet
10 feet

-20 feet

Answer 1

To determine the displacement of the hamster, we need to calculate the difference between its final position and its initial position.

1. The hamster starts at a position 10 feet to the left of the refrigerator, which we can assign the value of -10 feet.
2. The hamster then travels 20 feet to the right. This means it moves from -10 feet to: \[ -10 + 20 = 10 \text{ feet} \]
3. Finally, the hamster ends its journey directly in front of the refrigerator. Since the refrigerator is at position 0, its final position is 0 feet.

Now, we can calculate the displacement: \[ \text{Displacement} = \text{Final Position} - \text{Initial Position} = 0 - (-10) = 0 + 10 = 10 \text{ feet} \]

Thus, the displacement of the hamster is 10 feet.