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Science Courses Course Department Distance measures the length traveled by an object independent of the start and end points, while displacement is the objects change in position relative to the start and end points. Learn the definition and examples of distance and displacement in physics, and how to use and calculate them. Updated: . On my last Thanksgiving, I decided to run my first 5k. I wont be shy about telling you my exact time, but I managed to finish well. If you ask the other drivers how far I drove, they all say 5 kilometers. If you were to ask a group of physicists how far Ive traveled, they would all say 0 kilometers, meaning I havent changed position at all. You may be surprised to learn that both answers are correct. but how can that be? It all boils down to the subtle but very important difference between distance and displacement. 323,000 views Lets start by defining these two terms, starting with the simplest. Distance is how much ground an object covers, regardless of its starting or ending position. A distance measurement has no directional component, so it is a scalar quantity. So I ran 5km for a total of 5km. It doesnt matter where the start line is, the finish line, or which direction Im running. The only important thing is that by tracking and measuring my way I covered a distance of 5 km on the ground. So when we asked the other runners how far I had run, they all answered correctly and measured 5 kilometers. Lets look at our other term: displacement, which changes an objects position in relation to its start position and end position. The displacement measurement does not take into account the path the object took to change its position, only where it started and where it ended. The easiest way to represent the displacement is to indicate where the object started moving and draw a straight arrow from that point to where the object stopped moving. Remember that in physics this arrow is called a vector. Its length corresponds to the size or magnitude of the movement, and the arrow indicates the direction of movement. This makes displacement a vector quantity since it includes motion and magnitude as well as direction. In physics, the displacement is written as Ds. Delta is a Greek letter in the shape of a triangle used to denote change. s is the spatial position. Thus, Ds means a change in spatial position. You should be happy with this shortcut if you see questions about D that dont really need a name change. Offset Calculation Now before we look at my 5K offset, let me try to illustrate the concept of offset. If I walk west 3 meters, then turn around and walk north 4 meters, I can easily calculate the distance traveled: 3 meters + 4 meters = 7 meters. As this is the distanceResearch Courses Courses Chapters Distance measures the distance an object has traveled, regardless of its start and end points, while displacement is the change in an objects position relative to its start and end points. Learn the definitions and examples of distances and displacements in physics, and how to use and calculate them. Update: Last Thanksgiving I decided to launch my first 5K. I dont want to be embarrassed about giving the exact time, but I managed to finish the race. If you asked the other riders how far I was going, they would all say 5 kilometers. If you asked a group of physicists how far I have traveled, they might say every 0 kilometers that I have not changed my position at all. You may be surprised that both answers are correct. But how is that possible? It all comes down to the subtle but very important difference between distance and displacement. 323,000 views Lets start by defining these two concepts, starting with the simpler one. Distance determines how much ground an object occupies, regardless of its starting or ending location. The distance measurement does not contain a directional component, which makes it a scalar quantity. So during my 5K I ran a total of 5K. It didnt matter where the start or finish was, or in what direction I was running. The only thing that matters is that if you follow and measure my journey, I have covered a distance of 5 km by land. So when we asked the other runners how far I ran, they all answered correctly by measuring a distance of 5 kilometers. Lets take a moment to look at our next term: displacement, which is the change in the position of an object relative to its initial and final positions. Displacement measurements do not take into account how far an object has traveled to change its position, but where it started and ended. The easiest way to visualize the displacement is to find where the object started and draw a straight arrow from that point to the point where the object stopped moving. Remember that in physics, this arrow is called a vector. Its length corresponds to the amount of traffic, and the arrow shows the direction of travel. This makes the displacement a vector quantity as it contains motion, magnitude, and direction. In physics, the displacement is written as Ds. Delta is a triangle-shaped Greek letter used to mean change to. The letter s stands for a spatial location. Ds therefore means a change in spatial position. You should refer to this shortcut in case you see questions asking for a solution for D that dont actually require renaming. Calculating Displacement Now, before we look at my displacement during my 5K, I will try to illustrate the concept of displacement. If I go 3 meters west and then turn around and walk 4 meters north, you can easily calculate the distance traveled: 3m + 4m = 7 meters. Since it is a distance, it exists

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