Displacement and distance are two distinct concepts in mechanics: Nature: Displacement is a vector quantity (magnitude and direction), while distance is a scalar quantity (magnitude only). Path Dependence: Displacement depends only on the initial and final positions, not the path taken. Distance is the total length of the actual path travelled. Value: Displacement can be positive, negative, or zero. Distance is always positive and non-zero if motion has occurred. For example, if you walk ... Displacement If an object moves relative to a reference frame (for example, if a professor moves to the right relative to a white board or a passenger moves toward the rear of an airplane), then the object’s position changes. This change in position is known as displacement . The word “ displacement ” implies that an object has moved, or has been displaced. Displacement is the shift in location when an object in motion changes from one position to another. [2] For motion over a given interval of time, the displacement divided by the length of the time interval defines the average velocity (a vector), whose magnitude is the average speed (a scalar quantity). Learn the difference between distance and displacement , two quantities that measure motion. Distance is a scalar that ignores direction, while displacement is a vector that accounts for direction change.
