Answer:
The net displacement of the car is 3 km West
Explanation:
Please see the attached drawing to understand the car's trajectory: First in the East direction for 4 km (indicated by the green arrow that starts at the origin (zero), and stops at position 4 on the right (East).
Then from that position, it moves back towards the West going over its initial path, it goes through the origin and continues for 3 more km completing a moving to the West a total of 7 km. This is indicated in the drawing with an orange trace that end in position 3 to the left (West) of zero.
So, its NET displacement considered from the point of departure (origin at zero) to the final point where the trip ended, is 3 km to the west.
The net displacement of the car from the initial point will be 3 kilometer west.
Explanation:
Displacement is the shortest distance between two points, whereas the distance is the total distance between two points.
Displacement is a vector quantity and distance is scalar quantity. Let the car starts from point A and reaches point B in the East direction, i.e., 4 km.
Now from point B it starts moving west and reaches point C beyond point A, i.e., 7 km.
A---------------------.>B 4KM
C <--------------------------------------------B 7KM
finally the resultant distance is 3 km west
