Displacement is a vector quantity that represents the change in an object's position. It is defined as the difference between the final position and the initial position of the object, taking into account both magnitude and direction
. Mathematically, displacement Δr\Delta \mathbf{r}Δr is expressed as:
Δr=rfinal−rinitial\Delta \mathbf{r}=\mathbf{r}{\text{final}}-\mathbf{r}{\text{initial}}Δr=rfinal−rinitial
where rfinal\mathbf{r}{\text{final}}rfinal and rinitial\mathbf{r}{\text{initial}}rinitial are the position vectors of the object at the final and initial points, respectively
. Unlike distance, which is a scalar measuring the total path length traveled regardless of direction, displacement measures the shortest straight-line distance from the starting point to the ending point, along with the direction of that line
. For example, if a person walks in a loop and returns to the starting point, the displacement is zero even though the distance traveled is not
. The SI unit of displacement is the meter (m)
. Displacement is fundamental in physics for analyzing motion and calculating quantities such as velocity, which is displacement divided by time
. In summary, displacement tells you how far and in what direction an object has moved from its initial position, focusing on the net change in position rather than the total distance traveled.
