Sarah and Maisie's School Sports Day Data Analysis

Sarah and Maisie Analyzing 1500 m Results

Sarah and Maisie are analysing data from their school sports day. Looking at the 1500 m results for Stephen, Maisie believes that Stephen’s displacement from the start line is 1500 m. Sarah says that she is incorrect and that his displacement from the start is actually 0 m. Which of the students is correct? Give reasoning for your answer.

Answer:Sarah is right

Explanation:This is an exercise that differentiates between scalars and vectors.

A scalar is a number, instead a vector is a number that represents the module in addition to direction and sense. In this case, the distance (scalar) traveled is a number, which is why it is worth 1500m, but the displacement is a vector and since the point where it leaves is the same point where the vector's modulus arrives is zero, so the DISPLACEMENT VECTOR is zero. Consequently Sarah is right.

Sarah and Maisie are analysing data from their school sports day. Looking at the 1500 m results for Stephen, Maisie believes that Stephen’s displacement from the start line is 1500 m. Sarah says that she is incorrect and that his displacement from the start is actually 0 m. Which of the students is correct? Give reasoning for your answer.

Sarah is rightExplanation:This is an exercise that differentiates between scalars and vectors. A scalar is a number, instead a vector is a number that represents the module in addition to direction and sense. In this case, the distance (scalar) traveled is a number, which is why it is worth 1500m, but the displacement is a vector and since the point where it leaves is the same point where the vector's modulus arrives is zero, so the DISPLACEMENT VECTOR is zero consequently Sarah is right

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