2007-12-29 23:29:18 · 7 answers · asked by take my soul... 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
The best way to explain the difference between distance and displacement are by examples.
Ex. 1. Let's say we have a motor boat traveling in a circular path whose circumference is 200 meters. If say, the boat started at point A and follows the circular path and then returns to point A after 40 seconds, then the boat traveled a DISTANCE of 200 meters. The DISTANCE is the ACTUAL LENGTH OF THE PATH taken in moving from one point to another.
Now, how about the displacement? Well, the displacement of the boat when it returns to point A is ZERO. You can think of displacement as the straight line segment you draw from the beginning point to the terminal point. Since, in our example the beginning point and the terminal point are the same, then we can not draw a line segment! That means NO DISPLACEMENT. There was no change in the position of the boat even though it has traveled a distance of 200 meters.
Ex. 2 It is quite possible for distance and displacement to be equal. This happens when the actual path taken in moving from beginning point to terminal point is a straight line in one direction. I am force to emphasize, however, that displacement requires direction to be completely described, while distance does not require direction. If our boat in Ex. 1 traveled in a straight line for 200 meters from east to west, then the distance traveled is 200 meters. The displacement is also 200 meters but with the additional information: it is due west.
teddy boy
2007-12-30 00:48:33 · answer #1 · answered by teddy boy 6 · 16⤊ 2⤋
Distance is a scalar quantity (i.e., a magnitude/number only).
Displacement is a vector quantity (i.e., magnitude and direction).
A good way to think about it is the 400m run around a 400m track.
Assuming you start on the inside lane, at the end of the race you have run a distance of 400m, but your displacement is 0m (as you are back where you started from).
Another example: you walk up a flight of stairs to be 1level directly above where you started from. Let's say you actually walked a distance of 30m to get there, but your displacement would be about 3m up. Note that I gave the direction "up".
And another example: You drive 10km North, then 10 km West. The distance you travelled was 20km, but your displacement is 14.1km North West.
Final one: You drive South 50 km then North 100 km. The distance you went is 150km, but your displacement is 50km North.
Note with all of these, distance has no direction, whereas displacement always has a direction. Also note that once these terms are understood in a physics course, they are often used interchangeably... just as speed (scalar) and velocity (vector) are.
2007-12-29 23:56:02 · answer #2 · answered by TC 2 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Position Specifying the position of an object is essential in describing motion. The scalar difference between initial and final position is called the distance. The vector change in position associated with a motion is called the displacement. Distance and displacement are two quantities which may seem to mean the same thing yet have distinctly different definitions and meanings. Distance is a scalar quantity which refers to "how much ground an object has covered" during its motion. Displacement is a vector quantity which refers to "how far out of place an object is"; it is the object's overall change in position.
2016-04-02 01:50:43 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Term "Displacement "was coinded based upon the analysis of simple harmonic motion.
In Hamonic motion The force is directly proportional to the displacement. The analogy was made using a Spring .
When power is applied to the Spring a moving force occurs whose value increases in proportion to the Spring compression. The distance that the force moves is called"displacement"
Distance is the space that a mass has moved during its travel.
The force travels two times the distance that the mass travels.
2007-12-30 00:31:23 · answer #4 · answered by goring 6 · 3⤊ 2⤋
distance is the path covered by the body.
whereas displacement is a straight line between the starting point and the the final point
2007-12-30 01:46:09 · answer #5 · answered by Archit 2 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Distance is how far you have traveled in total. Displacement is the distance you have traveled from your starting point.
For example if I walked forward 10 yards and backwards 10 yards, my distance would be 20 yards but my displacement would be 0.
Get me?
2007-12-29 23:35:01 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 12⤊ 0⤋
Teddy boy above has it exactly right. (Who gave his answer a thumbs down?)
2007-12-30 02:15:46 · answer #7 · answered by Steve H 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋