A student runs from the ground floor to the fourth floor of a school building to collect a book and then comes down to their classroom on the second floor. If the height of each floor is 3 m, find the total vertical distance travelled and their displacement from the starting point.
18 m
6 m
Explanation
Total vertical distance travelled is the actual path length covered by the student. The student moves up from the ground floor to the fourth floor, and then moves down to the second floor.
Displacement is the shortest distance between the starting and final positions. The student starts at the ground floor and ends at the second floor.
Step 1: Distance from ground to 4th floor = 4 floors × 3 m/floor = 12 m. Step 2: Distance from 4th floor to 2nd floor = 2 floors × 3 m/floor = 6 m. Step 3: Total vertical distance travelled = 12 m + 6 m = 18 m. Step 4: Final position height from ground = 2 floors × 3 m/floor = 6 m. Step 5: Displacement = 6 m.