Elephant Seal's Displacement: 635m Down, 590m East

[shawonna23]

Homework Problem-Help??

In diving to a depth of 635 m, an elephant seal also moves 590 m due east of his starting point. What is the magnitude of the seal's displacement?

 

[Tide]

Think Pythagoras! :-)

BTW - what have you done so far on the problem?

 

[M98Ranger]

To find the magnitude of the seal's displacement, we can use the Pythagorean theorem, which states that in a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.

In this scenario, the displacement of the seal can be represented by a right triangle, with the depth (635 m) as one side and the horizontal distance (590 m) as the other side. So, the magnitude of the displacement can be found by calculating the hypotenuse of this triangle.

Using the Pythagorean theorem, we get:

Magnitude of displacement = √(635^2 + 590^2)
= √(403225 + 348100)
= √751325
= 866.68 m

Therefore, the magnitude of the seal's displacement is approximately 866.68 m.