Displacement and distance

• What is displacement defined as?

  Change in position
• Displacement is a vector quantity.
• Distance is a vector quantity.

  False
• If you walk 5 meters east and 2 meters west, what is your displacement?

  3 meters east
• Match the quantity with its description:

  Displacement ↔️ Change in position with direction

  Distance ↔️ Total length of path traveled
• Displacement measures the shortest straight-line change in position.
• Displacement is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude and direction.
• Steps to calculate displacement in one dimension:

  1️⃣ Find the final position

  2️⃣ Find the initial position

  3️⃣ Subtract the initial position from the final position
• What is the direction of a displacement if you walk 5 meters east?

  East
• The formula for displacement in one dimension is final position minus initial position.
• In two dimensions, displacement is calculated using the formula \sqrt{(\Delta x)^{2} + (\Delta y)^{2}}, which finds the magnitude of the displacement.
• If an object moves 5 meters east and 3 meters west, what is the total distance traveled?

  8 meters
• In hiking, what does displacement measure?

  Change in position from start to finish
• Displacement and distance provide different insights into motion in real-world scenarios.