1. Position, distance and Displacement
Physics Honors

2. position
Position is where something is located in relation to an origin.
Denoted by the letter x.
origin

3. Distance
Describes how far something has traveled. Denoted by the letter d. If a racer runs around a 400 meter track 4 times how far have they traveled? 400m x 4 = 1,600m

4. Displacement
How is displacement different than distance? Displacement is a straight line measure of how far something has moved from its original position. Denoted by the symbol delta and the letter x (∆x).

5. Distance Vs. Displacement
The blue line represents the path taken.
The purple dashes are the distance.
The green dashes are the displacement.
Can the displacement ever be greater than the distance?

6. Displacement
What about the racer? After 4 laps, what is their displacement? The runner’s displacement would be 0 m, because they ended up exactly where they started.

7. Distance or Displacement?
Watch his flip-flops!

9. Distance is a scalar quantity.
Vectors and Scalars
A scalar quantity is one that only has a size (magnitude).
Examples:
There are 30 students in this class.
I drove 5 miles to school today.
The temperature is 94 degrees today.
Distance is a scalar quantity.

10. Displacement is a vector quantity.
Vectors and Scalars
A vector quantity has both a magnitude and a direction.
Examples:
I walked 3 blocks east.
School is 5 miles north of my house.
He pushed upwards with 10 pounds of force.
Displacement is a vector quantity.

11. Scalar and vector examples
Scalar Examples
Vector Examples
Time
Displacement
Energy
Force
Distance
Velocity
Temperature
Acceleration
Volume