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Distance and Displacement
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Procedure Draw a dot at the intersection of two lines near the bottom edge of a sheet of graph paper. Label the dot “Start”. Draw a second, similar dot near the top of the paper. Label this dot “End”. Draw a path from the Start dot to the End dot. Choose any path that stays on the grid lines. Use a ruler to determine the distance of your path. This is the distance
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Procedure 2 Now draw a line directly from start to finish. Measure this distance with your ruler. This is the displacement
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Distance is a scalar quantity that refers to "how much ground an object has covered" during its motion.scalar quantity Displacement is a vector quantity that refers to "how far out of place an object is"; it is the object's overall change in position.vector quantity
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Example Consider the motion depicted in the diagram below. A physics teacher walks 4 meters East, 2 meters South, 4 meters West, and finally 2 meters North.
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Example Even though the physics teacher has walked a total distance of 12 meters, his displacement is 0 meters. During the course of motion, he has "covered 12 meters of ground" (distance = 12 m). Yet when he is finished walking, she is not "out of place" - i.e., there is no displacement for her motion (displacement = 0 m).
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What is the displacement of the cross-country team if they begin at the school, run 10 miles and finish back at the school? The displacement of the runners is 0 miles. While they have covered a distance of 10 miles, they are not "out of place" or displaced. They finish where they started. Round-trip motions always have a displacement of 0.
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What is the distance and the displacement of the race car drivers in the Daytona 500? Distance: 500 miles Displacement: 0
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Scalar vs. Vector Scalars are quantities that are fully described by a magnitude (or numerical value) alone. Vectors are quantities that are fully described by both a magnitude and a direction.
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Scalar or Vector? A.5 m B.30 m/sec, East C.5 mi., North D.20 degrees Celsius E.256 bytes F.4000 Calories
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Scalar or Vector? A.5 m ▫Scalar B.30 m/sec, East ▫Vector C.5 mi., North ▫Vector D.20 degrees Celsius ▫Scalar E.256 bytes ▫Scalar F.4000 Calories ▫Scalar
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Displacement ( x) Straight line distance from the initial position to the final position (change in position) Can be positive or negative
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Displacement What is the displacement for the objects shown?
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Displacement What is the displacement for the objects shown? Answer: 70 cm Answer: -60 cm
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Algebra Review
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3a + 8 = 32 a = 8
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3c + 5 = 23 c = 6
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d/4 + 8 = 16 d = 32
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