Finding the Distance Traveled & Displacement of a Runner

[Display MOB]

A Runner Completed four laps of a 400m track in 6.0 minutes. Find the distance traveled and displacement of the runner.

Ok i know that distance would be 400m * 4 laps obviously but how would you write that out? What would a formula be? (Complete guess below, obviously not right.)
d1 = 400m
? = 4 (meaning laps)
$$\Delta$$d = ?

and my formula and therefore statement would follow..

Second Question.
Isn't finding displacement for this questions pointless because you would be in the same place you started out as? Also i don't know the equation i would use to find displacement given only speed and time.

I am in grade 10 physics so please take it easy if you think there are obvious answers and please don't give me to complicated feedback :).

 

[rock.freak667]

Distance covered in 1 lap =400m
No. of laps run=4
Total distance covered=(400*4)m

I would assume that the displacement is zero because as you said, the runner finished where he started so.

 

[Moetasim]

I would approach this problem by first defining the variables involved. In this case, we have:

d = distance traveled (in meters)
l = number of laps completed
t = time taken (in minutes)

Using these variables, we can write out the formula for distance traveled:

d = 400m * l

Since the runner completed four laps, we can substitute l with 4:

d = 400m * 4 = 1600m

So, the distance traveled by the runner is 1600 meters.

Now, for displacement, we need to define another variable, x, which represents the displacement. Displacement is defined as the shortest distance between the starting point and the ending point. In this case, since the runner ends up at the same point where they started, the displacement would be 0.

Therefore, the formula for displacement would be:

x = 0

So, the displacement of the runner is 0 meters.

To address your second question, finding the displacement may seem pointless in this scenario since the runner ends up at the same point where they started. However, displacement is an important concept in physics as it helps us understand the overall motion of an object. In this case, even though the runner ends up at the same point, they still traveled a distance of 1600 meters, which gives us information about their speed and direction of motion.