A wildlife researcher is tracking a flock of geese. The geese fly 4.0 km due west, then turn toward the north by 40° and fly another 4.0 km. How far west are they of their initial position? What is the magnitude of their displacement?
I drew a nice diagram of said problem. I found out how far west they are by adding up the component vectors of each piece. They are 7.1 km west. How do i go about finding the magnitude of the displacement? Why isnt the same answer as how far west they are? The book says the answer is 7.5 km. But I would like to know how to get there.
2 answers