Position and Displcaement AP Physics C

Vectors and Scalars Vector: A quantity that has both magnitude (amount) and direction. Scalar: A quantity that has only magnitude. Example: 5 blocks, north is a … – vector Example: 250 mL is a … – scalar Example: 475 miles/hour, heading 078⁰ is a … – vector

Vectors and Scalars Give examples of quantities that can only be scalars and of quantities that are vectors: Scalar onlyVector TemperatureVelocity(make list in group)

Vector Notation

Showing Direction of a Vector At first we will only deal with vectors in one dimension For example left/right or up/down or forward/backwards For one dimension, direction can just be shown as “+” (positive) or “-” (negative) Later we will look at two or three dimensions and will see how to indicate direction for those.

Position

Displacement

Distance Travelled Not the same as displacement Length of path actually followed Standard SI units: meters (m) How is that different from displacement? One lap in BHS pool (down and back): Distance travelled = ? 50 m Displacement = ? 0 m One lap on BHS track?