Question

differentiate between distance and displacement​

Answer 1

Answer:

Distance is the actual path length travelled by an object in the given interval of time during the motion. It is a positive scalar quantity.

Displacement is the difference between the final and initial position of the object in a given interval of time. It can also be defined as the shortest distance between these two positions of the object and its direction is from the initial to final position of the object, during the given interval of time. It is a vector quantity

Answer 2

Explanation:

Distance:

• It is the length of the path traversed by the object in a certain time.
• It is a scalar quantity that is, it has only the magnitude.
• It depends on the path followed by the object.
• It is always positive.
• It can be more than or equal to the magnitude of displacement.
• It may not be zero even if displacement is zero, but it can not be zero if displacement is not zero.

Displacement:

• It is the distance travelled by the object in a specified direction in a certain time (that is, it is the shortest distance between the final and initial positions.)
• It is a vector quantity that is, it has both the magnitude and direction.
• It does not depend on the path followed by the object.
• It can be positive or negative depending on its direction.
• Its magnitude can be less than or equal to the distance, but can never be greater than the distance.
• It is zero if distance is zero, but it can be zero even if distance is not zero.