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To determine the displacement of an object, you only have to consider the change in position between the starting point and the ending point. The path followed from one point to the other does not matter.
Distance is the actual path length that an object moves away from its original position. Distance is a scalar. We use the symbol d for distance. Displacement is the straight-line path between the starting point and the endpoint of a journey i.e. the distance moved in a particular direction. Displacement is a vector.
Distance is a scalar measure of the interval between two locations measured along the actual path connecting them. Displacement is a vector measure of the interval between two locations measured along the shortest path connecting them.
Distance is the length of the path taken by an object whereas displacement is the simply the distance between where the object started and where it ended up. For example, lets say you drive a car. You drive it 5 miles east and then 3 miles west.
• Kinematics – branch of physics; study of motion • Position (x) – where you are located • Distance (d) – how far you have traveled, regardless of direction • Displacement (Dx) – where you are in relation to where you started Distance vs. Displacement • You drive the path, and your odometer goes up by 8 miles (your distance).
Distance is defined to be the magnitude or size of displacement between two positions. Note that the distance between two positions is not the same as the distance traveled between them.
Now we will learn about two words that seem similar, but have different meanings in physics. Distance: measurement of the actual path traveled Displacement: the straight-line distance between 2 points
