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In addition to the revision notes for Displacement and Distance in 1 Dimension on this page, you can also access the following Kinematics learning resources for Displacement and Distance in 1 Dimension
| Tutorial ID | Title | Tutorial | Video Tutorial | Revision Notes | Revision Questions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.3 | Displacement and Distance in 1 Dimension |
In these revision notes for Displacement and Distance in 1 Dimension, we cover the following key points:
The change in position in Kinematics is known as "Displacement". It is denoted by ∆x⃗ and is obtained by subtracting the final and initial position.
Mathematically, we can write (in one dimension):
Displacement is a vector quantity as it involves direction.
Distance (s) is the length of the entire path followed by an object during its motion. Distance is a scalar quantity, as it does not involve any direction. When dealing with distance, we are interested only in the magnitude of movement (in units of length), not in the moving direction.
Displacement in NOT equal to the Distance even when the object makes a rectilinear motion without turning back. Although the numerical result (magnitude) is the same in both cases, Displacement has an additional info included - the direction. Therefore, Displacement and Distance are never identical. You must be careful to avoid confusing them with each other.
Unlike Displacement, the Distance cannot be negative as it represents the length of the object's path. If the object is at rest, this length is zero but if it starts moving, the path's length becomes immediately a positive number.
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