Question

An ant climbs up five stairs, each with width 20 cm and height 20 cm, find the distance covered and displacement of ant.

Answer 1

Distance covered in each step = 20 +20 =40cm.

Therefore, the total distance covered= 40 x 5= 200 cm.

Considering a stair to be a triangle, then it's hypotenuse will be,

$\sqrt{{20}^2+{20}^2}=h$

$\therefore h=20\sqrt{2}$

$\therefore$ Total displacement travelled in climbing 5 stairs,

$=5\times 20\sqrt{2}=100\sqrt{2}$ cm.