Question 52 of 68intermediate🔧 ApplyNumerical4 marks

A girl walks 4 km towards west, then she walks 3 km in a direction 30° east of north and stops. Determine the girl’s displacement from her initial point of departure.

Correct Answer

The girl's displacement from her initial point is 13\sqrt{13} km (approximately 3.6 km) in a direction tan⁻¹(33\sqrt{3}/5) ≈\approx 46° north of west.

Exercise: MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISE ON CHAPTER 10 | Q: 3 | (Page 35)
For More Understanding

Explanation

This problem applies the triangle law of vector addition from the chapter. The girl's total displacement is the vector sum of her two individual displacements. By resolving each displacement into its components along the coordinate axes (East-West and North-South), we can add them algebraically to find the resultant vector.

Solution Steps

  1. Step 1: Set up coordinate system and define vectors. Let the initial point be the origin. Let East be the positive x-axis and North be the positive y-axis. The first displacement vector is 4 km towards West: d⃗₁ = -4î km.

  2. Step 2: Resolve the second displacement. The second displacement is 3 km, 30° east of north. This means the angle with the positive y-axis is 30° towards the positive x-axis. The angle with the positive x-axis is 90° - 30° = 60°. The components are: x-component = 3 cos 60° = 3 × ½ = 1.5 km; y-component = 3 sin 60° = 3 × (3\sqrt{3}/2) = 33\sqrt{3}/2 km. So, d⃗₂ = 1.5î + (33\sqrt{3}/2)ĵ km.

  3. Step 3: Find the resultant displacement vector. Using the triangle law of vector addition: D⃗ = d⃗₁ + d⃗₂ = (-4î) + (1.5î + 33\sqrt{3}/2 ĵ) = (-4 + 1.5)î + (33\sqrt{3}/2)ĵ = -2.5î + (33\sqrt{3}/2)ĵ km.

  4. Step 4: Calculate the magnitude of displacement. |D⃗| = √[(-2.5)² + (33\sqrt{3}/2)²] = √[6.25 + 27/4] = √[6.25 + 6.75] = 13\sqrt{13} km ≈\approx 3.6 km.

  5. Step 5: Determine the direction. The resultant vector has a negative x-component (west) and positive y-component (north). The angle θ with the West direction is given by: tan θ = |y-component| / |x-component| = (33\sqrt{3}/2) / 2.5 = 33\sqrt{3}/5. Therefore, θ = tan⁻¹(33\sqrt{3}/5) ≈\approx 46°. The displacement is 13\sqrt{13} km at an angle of tan⁻¹(33\sqrt{3}/5) north of west.