Question
Tiana jogs 1.5 km in one direction along a straight path, then 2.4 km in the opposite direction, then 0.7 km back in her original direction. Take the original direction as positive.1. What is her net displacement?2. What total distance did she jog?
Answer
Use signs for displacement because direction matters. With the original direction positive,
So Tiana’s displacement is −0.2 km, meaning she finishes 0.2 km in the direction opposite to where she first started jogging.
For distance, add the lengths of all three path segments without signs:
Therefore:
- Displacement:
- Distance:
The two values differ because displacement depends only on the starting and ending positions, while distance counts the entire path traveled.
Evidence boundary
This solution treats the motion as one-dimensional and uses the problem’s stated convention that Tiana’s original direction is positive. It distinguishes signed displacement from total path length; it does not infer any unstated turns, detours, or two-dimensional motion.
Sources
These references support the concepts and methods used in the explanation above.