A car travels along a straight desert highway that runs east–west
PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Mechanics and materials · Mechanics and materials
Problem
A car travels along a straight desert highway that runs east–west. A coordinate system is chosen with the origin at a small roadside café and the positive x-axis pointing east. At 12:00 p.m. the car passes a road sign located 2.5km west of the café. At 12:10 p.m. the car stops for fuel at a station 1.8km east of the café.
(1) Part 1: (a) Express the car’s initial and final positions in meters, including their algebraic signs.
(2) Part 2: (b) Determine the car’s displacement for the interval between 12:00 p.m. and 12:10 p.m.
(3) Part 3: (c) State the magnitude of the displacement and specify its direction relative to the café.