How do distance and displacement differ

Mass of earth and radius in physics October 15, Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Telegram. Close Search for. It is a magnitude that measures the length that is traveled by an object from one point to another. It is a magnitude that measures the variation of the position of a body between two points, considering a starting point and an endpoint. It is obtained from the difference in the length value of an endpoint and an initial point of an object. 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. In other words, the skier moves from A to B to C to D.

Find the total distance travelled. Find the displacement in the last 2 seconds. Solution :. Total distance travelled by the body is. Because the maximum distance travelled by the body is 80m and then it comes back to its initial position.

Example 2 : Closed path is travelled by a body. Find the displacement and total distance travelled by the body. Solution : Distance travelled by the body is. Displacement of the body is Zero because the body started from point A and came back to its initial position A.

Example 3 : Find the displacement and distance travelled by the body if the body moves from point A to B to C to D. Distance travelled is. Displacement -. By applying Pythagoras Theorem on the given figure we get,. Try Yourself:. A man starts to travel in the east direction. After travelling 20 km he turns 90 0 to right and then travels 4 km. How does average velocity differ from instantaneous velocity? How can I calculate the change of velocity? How do speed and velocity differ from each other?

How do velocity and acceleration differ? How do displacement and distance differ? Can displacement be negative? Can velocity be zero if accelerating?