Rita walks in a straight line from her home to the market, a distance of 150m due east. After shopping she walks back along the same road and stops at a friend’s house that is 50m west of the market.
(i) Draw a simple labelled sketch of Rita’s path, showing the reference point taken as her home.
(ii) Calculate the total distance travelled by Rita.
(iii) Determine Rita’s displacement from her home when she reaches her friend’s house. State its magnitude and direction.
(iv) Explain why the numerical values obtained in parts (ii) and (iii) are different, even though both describe Rita’s movement.
(v) Classify distance and displacement as scalar or vector quantities, giving one reason for each classification.