Question

Under what conditions can a body travels a certain distance and
yet it’s resultant displacement be zero?

Answer 1

Explanation:

A body covers a certain distance, yet its displacement would be zero when the body returns back to its original position (initial position) from where it had started.

Let us understand this by considering an example.

Example 1:

When a body is travelling in a circular path.

In this case;

• Distance would be the circumference of circle which is 2πr. But,
• Displacement would be zero.

Example 2:

When a body is travelling on a straight line path and returns back to the starting point.

.____________.

A B

Suppose body travels from A to B and returns back to A,

then;

• Distance would be twice the length of line. But,
• Displacement would be zero.