Displacement

Distance:

“The length of actual path traversed by a body in motion is called distance”. The actual path could be straight or curved. Distance is a scalar quantity.

Unit:

Its SI unit is meter (m).

Displacement:

“The displacement is the change in the position of a body from initial position to the final position”. The displacement is a vector quantity.

Unit:

Its SI unit is meter (m). Its dimensions is [L].

Explanation:

The tail of the displacement vector starts from initial position and its arrowhead is located at final position where the displacement ends.

Displacement along the curved path:

When the body moves along a curved path then the displacement is different from the original path (distance).If r1 is the position vector of point A. r2 is the position vector of point B then from the head to tail rule it is clear that

d = r2 – r1

Displacement along the straight path:

If the body is moving along the straight line then the displacement and the path of motion coincides. Displacement and distance would be same.

Example:

When an object is free falling, in that case displacement and distance would be same.

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