Question

A cat darts around a room chasing a ball. The cat first travels along the vector −1, 2 and then chases the ball along the vector 2, 6 − . The cat darts after the ball 1.5 times along the vector 4, 3 . This is where the cat catches the ball and chews on it. What vector describes the cat’s final position? Show all your work.

Answer 1

To find the cat's final position, we need to add up all the vectors representing the cat's movements.

The cat first travels along the vector −1, 2.

Next, the cat chases the ball along the vector 2, 6 − , which we can write as (2, 6) − (0, 1) = (2, 5).

Then, the cat darts after the ball 1.5 times along the vector 4, 3, which we can write as 1.5(4, 3) = (6, 4.5).

Finally, the cat's position after catching the ball is the sum of all these vectors:

(-1, 2) + (2, 5) + (6, 4.5) = (7, 11.5)

Therefore, the vector describing the cat's final position is (7, 11.5).