A locomotive moved 18.0 m [W] in a time of 6.00 s and stopped. After stopping, the locomotive moved 12.0 m [E] in 10.0 s. a. Determine the distance travelled by the locomotive. Show your work. b. Determine the displacement of the locomotive. Show your work.

a) The distance travelled by the the locomotive is 30 meters, b) The final displacement of the locomotive is 6 meters westwards.

Explanation:

a) The distance travelled is the sum of magnitudes of distances covered by the train during its motion. That is to say:

The distance travelled by the the locomotive is 30 meters.

b) The displacement is the vectorial distance of the train with respect to a point of reference, since west and east are antiparallel to each other, calculations can be simplified to a scalar form. Let suppose that movement to the east is positive. The calculations are presented below:

The final displacement of the locomotive is 6 meters westwards.

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