A hiker starts at his campsite and walks at 2 m/s northward for 30 min, then turns and walks due west at 1 m/s for 1 h. (a) Calculate the distance the hiker walks in 1.5 h. (b) Calculate the hiker's displacement from the campsite after walking for 1.5 h. (c) Explain the difference between distance and displacement.

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$\textbf{(a)}$ \ When walking north, the hiker covers

\begin{align*} v_{1}&=\dfrac{d_{1}}{t_{1}}\\ \rightarrow\quad d_{1}&=v_{1}t_{1}\\ &=2\ \frac{\text{m}}{\text{s}}\times 30\ \text{min}\cdot\dfrac{60\ \text{s}}{1\ \text{min}}\\ &=\ \quad\boxed{3600\ \text{m}} \end{align*}

and when walking west

\begin{align*} v_{2}&=\dfrac{d_{2}}{t_{2}}\\ \rightarrow\quad d_{2}&=v_{2}t_{2}\\ &=1\ \frac{\text{m}}{\text{s}}\times 1\ \text{h}\cdot\dfrac{3600\ \text{s}}{1\ \text{h}}\\ &=\ \quad\boxed{3600\ \text{m}} \end{align*}

The total distance is the sum of these two distances

\begin{align*} d&=d_{1}+d_{2}\\ &=3600\ \text{m}+3600\ \text{m}\\ &=\quad\boxed{7200\ \text{m}}\\ \end{align*}

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