Distance vs.
Displacement
Objective
At the end of this
What is the difference lesson, you should be
between distance and able to describe the
motion of objects in
displacement?
terms of distance or
displacement.
Distance vs. Displacement
Distance is the total path length
that the object traveled while
Displacement is the measure of
an object's change in position.
Distance is a scalar quantity which
means it can be described by its
magnitude and unit.
On the other hand, displacement is a
vector quantity which means it can be
described by its magnitude, unit, and
direction.
To get the distance traveled by an
object, you have to get the sum of all
the path lengths that the object
covered.
In contrast, to get the displacement of
the object, you have to measure the
change in the object's position using a
straight line.
Example
Referto the figure below. An
object moves from Start and
returns, following the path
indicated in the figure.
The distance traveled by the object is the sum of
all the distances covered by the object. This
means that the distance traveled by the object is:
distance=6cm+4cm+6cm+4cm=20cm
The object's displacement, on the
other hand, is not equal to its
distance. Since the object
returned to its original position
(Start), there is no change in the
object's position. Thus, the
displacement of the object is
equal to zero.
LET’S TRY!!!
Marie walks to school every
morning. If the path from her house
to her school is a curve path with a
length of 300 m and a radius of
100m, what is her distance? What
about her displacement?
Key Points
Distance is the total path length that the object
travelled.
Displacement is the measure of an object's
change in position.
To get the distance travelled by an object, you
just have to get the sum of all the path lengths the
object covered.
To get the displacement of the object, you have to
measure the change in the object's position using
a straight line.
What do you think?
Can the displacement of an object
be greater than its distance? Why?
Key points about DISPLACEMENT
The displacement is considered the
shortest distance between two points.
It can be equal or less than the distance
of the object but it can never be more
than the distance of the object.
Question 1
What is the physical quantity that
refers to the total path length covered
by an object?
A. displacement
B. distance
C. scalar
D. vector
Question 2
What refers to the object's change in
position?
A. acceleration
B. displacement
C. velocity
D. distance
Question 3
Displacement can be described using
both magnitude and direction. What type
of physical quantity is displacement?
A. scalar
B. vector
C. SI
D. derived
Question 4
Which of the following is a scalar
quantity?
A. Distance
B. Displacement
C. Acceleration
D. Velocity
Question 5
Claire walks 4 m east, 8 m south, and 10
m east from her house to the park. What
is the distance traveled by Claire?
A. 18 m
B. 30 m
C. 22 m
D. 10 m
Question 6
A car rounds a rotunda with a
circumference of 300 m and goes back to
its starting point. What is the
displacement of the car?
A. 350 m
B. 150 m
C. 300 m
D. 0 m
Question 7
Which of the following has the greatest
value of displacement?
A. 0 m
B. 100 m
C. -500 m
D. 10 m
Question 8
Refer to the figure
below.
Which of the following
statements is true?
A. The object is moving to the left.
B. The object is moving to the right.
C. The object is not moving.
D. The object is accelerating.
Question 9 (2 ans.)
Which of the following statements are true?
A. The displacement of the object can be more than
the distance of the object.
B. The distance of the object can be equal to the
displacement of the object.
C. The distance of the object can be less than the
displacement of the object.
D. The displacement of the object can be less than
the distance of the object.
Question 10
A car completes a half of a circular track that
has a radius of 10 m. What is the distance
traveled by the car? What is the displacement of
the car?
Hint: distance=0.5(2πr)
A. distance = 31.4 m; displacement = 10 m
B. distance = 31.4 m; displacement = 20 m
C. distance = 62.8 m; displacement = 20 m
D. distance = 62.8 m; displacement = 10 m
