A person starts from the origin O on a straight road taken as the positive x–axis. He first walks 25 m towards the east, then 40 m towards the west and finally 10 m towards the east.
(i) Define (a) distance and (b) displacement for motion confined to one dimension.
(ii) Using the data given, list the sequence of positions of the person with their algebraic coordinates taking the origin as 0 m.
(iii) Calculate the total distance travelled and the net displacement for the whole trip.
(iv) Explain physically why the two answers obtained in part (iii) are different even though the motion took place along the same straight line.