Question

Neema moves 4 metres to the west from the starting point in the first trip. Then, she moves 5 metres to the east in the second trip. In the third trip, she moves 10 metres to the west. What is her position with respect to the starting point after the three trips?

• A. -7m
• B. 4m
• C. -9m
• D. 8m

Answer 1

The correct option is C

-9m

Let's write the distances towards the east as positive numbers and distances towards the west as negative numbers. In the first trip, she travels 4 metres to the west and in the second trip she travels 5 metres to the east. In the third trip, she moves 10 metres to the west. This gives the final position as:

$\Rightarrow$ - 4 + 5-10 = -9 [Subtracting the negative of positive number means adding that positive number.]

Hence, her position is 9 metres to the west of the starting point.