Distance and displacement
The distance travelled is the length of the whole path a thing follows, every bend and every turn back included. The displacement is the straight arrow from where it started to where it ended: it has a size and a direction, so it is a vector. A runner who does one full lap of a 400-metre track covers 400 metres but finishes where they started, so their displacement is zero. Both are lengths, measured in metres or kilometres, and they are equal only when the thing moves along a straight line without turning back.
Depth 1 · Foundation
You can tell the distance travelled (the length of the path) from the displacement (the arrow from start to finish, with a size and a direction), find both for a simple journey, and say when they are equal.
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- 1
Foundation
You can tell the distance travelled (the length of the path) from the displacement (the arrow from start to finish, with a size and a direction), find both for a simple journey, and say when they are equal.
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What's still between you and Distance and displacement, depth 1, in the order you can learn it.