Question

A cyclist follows the path from A to E as shown in the given diagram.


Calculate the distance and displacement in this case.
Given scale as $1unit=2kilometre.$

• A. $20km,2\sqrt{10}km$
• B. $2\sqrt{10}km,20km$
• C. $10\sqrt{2}km,20km$
• D. $20km,10\sqrt{2}km$

Answer 1

The correct option is A $20km,2\sqrt{10}km$

Since, distance is the total path travelled by the body, to calculate distance, just adding all lengths.
So, total distance is, AB + BC + CD + DE =$8+4+6+2=20km$.

Displacement is the shortest distance between the final point and the initial point, hence to find the displacement, using pythagoras theoram. The shortest path to reach E from A is a line joining A and E.


So, AE = $\sqrt{2^2+6^2}$ = $\sqrt{40}$ = 2$\sqrt{10}km$