Describing Motion Section 1

Motion and Position A reference point is a starting point that can be used to locate a place or thing. It lets you know that something’s position has changed. A position is an object’s distance in a certain direction from a reference point.

A complete description of your position includes a distance, a direction, and a reference point.

Motion Motion occurs when an object changes its position. Not all motion is obvious!!! Example- sit completely still for 5 seconds….. You may not have felt it, but we actually moved about 655 ft in that 5 seconds! Movement of Earth is an example of relative motion.

Distance Distance describes how far something has moved, it depends on the path taken. Reminder- SI unit is meter

Displacement Displacement is the difference between the initial (first) position and the final position of an object. It is the distance and direction of an object’s change in position from starting point. Displacement depends only on the initial and final positions. Displacement is different from distance.

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