What is the difference between distance and displacement?
1 Answer
The difference between distance and displacement are as follows:
| SN | Distance | Displacement |
| 1. | It is the total length between two fixed points. | It is the shortest distance between the initial and final points. |
| 2. | Distance is a scalar quantity | Displacement is a vector quantity. |
| 3. | The total distance is never zero. It sums up in every direction. | The total displacement may be zero. |
Things to remember from Motion
- If a body changes its position with respect to the surrounding objects, then the body is said to be in motion.
- If a body does not change its position with respect to the surrounding objects, then the body is said to be at rest.
- The fixed point, about which we describe the motion of a body is called the reference point.
- The physical quantity having only magnitude but not a fixed direction is called a scalar quantity.
- The physical quantity having both magnitude and direction is called a vector quantity.
- Distance is the total length between two points. Its SI unit is m.
- Displacement is the shortest between the initial and final points. Its SI unit is also a meter.
- The rate of the change of distance is called speed and the rate of change of the displacement is called the velocity.
- Speed is a scalar quantity but velocity and acceleration is a vector quantity.
- If a body covers an equal distance in an equal interval of time, then the motion of the body is called uniform motion.
- If a body doesn't cover an equal distance in an equal interval of time, then the motion of the body is called a variable or non-uniform motion.
- The motion of a body relative to another object or the reference frame is called relative motion.
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