what is the difference between position, distance, and displacement?

Position is where an object happens to be. It can be expressed as a point in the x,y plane.

Distance is how far you move from the original position. If you were initially at (x0,y0) and move to (x1,y1), then the distance you moved is

d = √[(x1 - x0)² + (y1 - y0)²]

Distance is a scalar quantity.

Displacement is a vector quantity. It is a distance coupled with a direction.

For example, 5 ft is a distance, but 5 ft to the east is a displacement.

Position is a point location in space-time.

EXAMPLE: The desk chair you are sitting in right now as you read this is a position.

Distance is the length along a pathway.

EXAMPLE: You get up from your desk, go down the hall, into the kitchen, and to the refrigerator for a snack. In doing that, you walk 10 m. 10 m is the distance because it's the length you walked from the desk to the refrigerator.

Displacement is the straight line separation between two points.

EXAMPLE: The refrigerator is just on the other side of the wall from where you were sitting at the desk; so a straight line separation between it (point A) and your desk (point B) is only 2 m.

As you can see, distance accounts for all the meanderings and wanderings along some path. (You going from the desk, down the hall, into the kitchen, and to the refrigerator.) Displacement doesn't. So displacement is a special case where the length of travel of all the turns and backtracks and such is discounted. All displacement cares about is the final separation between the start (your desk) and end points (the reefer).

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Distance is the scalar value of how far an object has traveled regardless of direction. Displacement is the vector value of how far an object has been displaced, meaning how far is it from where it started. The better way to describe the difference between displacement and distance is here. 1. Displacement is the directed line segment between initial and final position of a moving body. 2. Distance is the total length of path traversed by the moving body irrespective of direction. :) :)

Position And Displacement

Position is the point where an object is located.

Distance is length between any two points.

Displacement is shotest distance between two points in specific direction.

Change in position is called Displacement.

Rizwan GH/SCHOOL, JARANWALA, FSD, PAKISTAN

Position means the point you are or an object is on.

Distance means the amount of unit of length an object has travelled.

Displacement means the shortest distance from an object's starting point and final point.