Three differences between distance and displacement quiz

Instead of considering a path, she roams around the city. Here, what do you understand from this example? Now, let us understand what displacement is. Displacement - Understanding with an Example Assume a new scenario where the same person, Riya is heading towards her office hurriedly. As she went for a long drive last night, she was tired and woke up late. She has got a very important project to do and is getting late. Now, she looks for a shortcut to reach 30 minutes prior to the daily timings, so what that shortest path is?

Thus, when we consider the type of path, it is displacement. We can measure the path an object takes and also the direction of the path. Hence, from our examples on distance and displacement, we understand that distance has just magnitude, which is regardless of the direction.

However, displacement takes both the magnitude and direction of the path travelled by an object. Hence, distance is a scalar quantity and displacement is a vector quantity. Distance is always positive or zero, while displacement can be positive, negative or zero.

Now, let us go through solved examples applying distance and displacement in our real lives. Yet when she is finished walking, she is not "out of place" - i. Displacement, being a vector quantity, must give attention to direction. The 4 meters east cancels the 4 meters west; and the 2 meters south cancels the 2 meters north. Vector quantities such as displacement are direction aware.

Scalar quantities such as distance are ignorant of direction. In determining the overall distance traveled by the physics teachers, the various directions of motion can be ignored. Now consider another example. The diagram below shows the position of a cross-country skier at various times.

At each of the indicated times, the skier turns around and reverses the direction of travel.

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Now from S, the body turns back, starts moving and stops at R. The length between every two separate points is given in the above figure. So, the actual path travelled by the body will be its distance. By observing this we can clearly say that the direction of movement does not put any impact on the magnitude of distance. Though the body travels in a reverse direction after reaching S to reach R, while finding the distance the complete path travelled by the body is taken into consideration.

Definition of Displacement Displacement is defined as the overall change in the position of a body while moving from one place to another. Displacement is compulsorily concerned with the shortest route between two locations. Let us consider the above figure again: In the previous case, we have determined the overall distance travelled by the moving body.

Now we have to find the displacement of the body. So as we have considered that the body begins to move from point P, reaches S and turns back to stop at R. Thus the displacement of the body will be considered as path length between the initial and final position of the body, on considering the shortest path. Here as we have seen that though the body first approaches S, its final destination is R because it moved in a reverse direction. Thus we say that displacement of the body is concerned with both magnitude as well as direction.

Key Differences Between Distance and Displacement Distance is the measure of the overall actual path length between two points. Whereas displacement is the measure of the shortest path between two points. Distance is path-dependent. However, displacement is position-dependent because its value depends on the initial and final position of the moving body.

So, it gives the numerical value of the amount of space between two points, at a given time, considering the actual path. The SI unit of distance is meters. Definition of Displacement Displacement means the change in position of someone or something, in a particular direction. It is the shortest length measured from its initial position to the final position of the moving body. It is a vector quantity, so it takes into account both magnitude and direction of the object.

The magnitude of displacement refers to the linear distance between two points. In general, measurement of displacement is done along the straight line, although, its measurement can also be done along curved paths. Further, the measurement is done considering a reference point.

Key Differences Between Distance and Displacement The following points explain the differences between distance and displacement: The amount of space between two points, measured along the actual path, which connects the two points, is called distance.

The amount of space between two points, measured along the minimum path which connects them, is called displacement. Distance is nothing but the length of the total route travelled by the object during motion. On the other hand, displacement is the least distance between starting and finishing point. Distance gives the complete information of the path followed by the body.