A car travels along a straight east-west road. A coordinate system is established on the road, with x increasing to the east. The car ends up 12 mi west of the intersection with Mulberry Road.
First and foremost, we need to know the displacement equation.
If its displacement was -27 mi , how far from Mulberry Road did it start?
displacement = final position – initial position
The final position is where the car ended up. From the problem, we know that that the car ended up west of the intersection of Mulberry Road.
We also know that x increasing to the east. What this means is that anything that is increasing to the east is positive.
He ended up 12 mi west of the intersection. This would make that his position negativerelative to the intersection in this problem due to the conditions. The displacement is given.
final position = -12
displacement = –27
displacement = final position – initial position
we need to find the initial position
-27 = -12 – x
x = 27 -12
initial position = 15 mi
On which side of Mulberry Road did it start?
Answer East or West..
The car started on the East
Leave a Reply