(a) A hot dog vendor named Sam is walking from the southwest corner of Central p
ID: 1279431 • Letter: #
Question
(a) A hot dog vendor named Sam is walking from the southwest corner of Central park to the Empire State Building. He starts at the intersection of 59th Street and Fifth Ave, and then 25 blocks southto the Empire State Building at the Corner of 34th Street and Fifth Avenue. Write his displacement vector in rectangular notation with units of "blocks." Orient the axes so positive y is to the north, and positive x is to the east. (b) A stockbroker named Andrea makes the same trip in a cab that gets lost, and detours 50 blocks south to Washington Square before reorienting and finally arriving at the Empire State Building. Is her displacement any different?
Explanation / Answer
a) his displacement is sqrt(3^2 + -25^2) = 25.18 blocks at an angle of tan^-1(3/-25) = approx. 6.84 degrees South of East.
b) If they both started and ended at the same point their displacements will be the same. Andrea's total distance will of course be greater.
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