Question

Question

A hamster in a ball begins its journey 5 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.

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

20 feet

20 feet

0 feet

0 feet

5 feet

5 feet

Answer 1

To determine the displacement of the hamster, we need to analyze its starting and ending positions in relation to the refrigerator.

1. The hamster starts 5 feet to the left of the refrigerator, which we can assign a position of -5 feet.
2. It then travels 20 feet to the right, which means it moves from -5 feet to the right by 20 feet.

Starting from -5 feet and moving 20 feet to the right:
\[
-5 + 20 = 15 \text{ feet}
\]
Thus, the hamster ends up at +15 feet, which is 15 feet to the right of the refrigerator.

Displacement is calculated as the difference between the final position and the initial position. Here, the initial position is -5 feet and the final position is +15 feet:
\[
\text{Displacement} = \text{Final Position} - \text{Initial Position} = 15 - (-5) = 15 + 5 = 20 \text{ feet}
\]

Therefore, the displacement of the hamster is **20 feet**.

The correct answer from the options provided is:
20 feet