Question

john walks to school in the morning and then walks home for lunch. the school is 1,000 meters directly north of his house. after lunch, he goes back to the school and then to the field for track that is 30 meters north of the school. what is johns resultant displacement?
30 meters north
970 meters north
1,030 meters north
3,000 meters north

Explanation:

Step1: Define reference point and direction

Let John's house be the origin ($0$ m), with north as the positive direction.

Step2: Track final position

John's final position: $1000\ \text{m (house to school)} - 1000\ \text{m (school to home)} + 1000\ \text{m (home to school)} + 30\ \text{m (school to field)} = 1030\ \text{m north of origin}$

Step3: Calculate displacement

Displacement = Final position - Initial position = $1030 - 0 = 1030\ \text{m north}$

Answer:

1,030 meters north