What is Distance & Displacement ?






Distance vs Displacement


Distance (āĻĻā§‚ā§°āĻ¤ā§āĻŦ): Distance means the total path travelled by an object. (āĻĻā§‚ā§°āĻ¤ā§āĻŦ āĻŽāĻžāύ⧇ āϕ⧋āύ⧋ āĻŦāĻ¸ā§āϤ⧁āϝāĻŧ⧇ āĻ…āϤāĻŋāĻ•ā§ā§°āĻŽ āϕ⧰āĻž āĻŽā§āĻ  āĻĒāĻĨāĨ¤)


Formul / āϏ⧂āĻ¤ā§ā§°: Distance = Total path travelled (āĻĻā§‚ā§°āĻ¤ā§āĻŦ = āĻ…āϤāĻŋāĻ•ā§ā§°āĻŽ āϕ⧰āĻž āĻŽā§āĻ  āĻĒāĻĨ)


Example / āωāĻĻāĻžāĻšā§°āĻŖ: Distance: A person walks 3 m east and then 4 m north. (āĻāϜāύ āĻŦā§āϝāĻ•ā§āϤāĻŋāϝāĻŧ⧇ 3 m āĻĒā§‚āĻŦāϞ⧈ āφ⧰⧁ āϤāĻžā§° āĻĒāĻŋāĻ›āϤ 4 m āωāĻ¤ā§āϤ⧰āϞ⧈ āĻ—’āϞāĨ¤)


Path Covered: First path (A) = 3 m, Second path (B) = 4 m


Formula: Distance = Total path travelled (āĻĻā§‚ā§°āĻ¤ā§āĻŦ = āĻ…āϤāĻŋāĻ•ā§ā§°āĻŽ āϕ⧰āĻž āĻŽā§āĻ  āĻĒāĻĨ)


Distance = 3 m + 4 m = 7 m, Ans: 7 m


The total path covered was 7 m. (āĻŽā§āĻ  āĻ…āϤāĻŋāĻ•ā§ā§°āĻŽ āϕ⧰āĻž āĻĒāĻĨ āφāĻ›āĻŋāϞ 7 āĻŽāĻŋāϟāĻžā§°āĨ¤)


Key Point / āĻŽā§āĻ–ā§āϝ āĻ•āĻĨāĻž: i. Distance has only magnitude. (Distance āϤ āĻ•ā§‡ā§ąāϞ āĻŽāĻžāύ āĻĨāĻžāϕ⧇āĨ¤)


ii. It is a scalar quantity. (āχ āĻāϟāĻž Scalar quantityāĨ¤)


Displacement (āϏ⧰āĻŖ): Displacement means the shortest straight path from the starting point to the ending point. (āϏ⧰āĻŖ āĻŽāĻžāύ⧇ āφ⧰āĻŽā§āĻ­āĻŖāĻŋ āĻŦāĻŋāĻ¨ā§āĻĻ⧁⧰ āĻĒā§°āĻž āĻļ⧇āώ āĻŦāĻŋāĻ¨ā§āĻĻ⧁āϞ⧈ āĻ¸ā§°ā§āĻŦāύāĻŋāĻŽā§āύ āϏ⧋āϜāĻž āĻĻā§‚ā§°āĻ¤ā§āĻŦāĨ¤)

Formul / āϏ⧂āĻ¤ā§ā§°: Displacement = Shortest straight distance between start and end point (āϏ⧰āĻŖ = āφ⧰āĻŽā§āĻ­āĻŖāĻŋ āφ⧰⧁ āĻļ⧇āώ āĻŦāĻŋāĻ¨ā§āĻĻ⧁⧰ 


āĻŽāĻžāϜ⧰ āĻ¸ā§°ā§āĻŦāύāĻŋāĻŽā§āύ āϏ⧋āϜāĻž āĻĻā§‚ā§°āĻ¤ā§āĻŦ)


Example / āωāĻĻāĻžāĻšā§°āĻŖ: A person walks 3 m east and then 4 m west. (āĻāϜāύ āĻŦā§āϝāĻ•ā§āϤāĻŋāϝāĻŧ⧇ 3 m āĻĒā§‚āĻŦāϞ⧈ āφ⧰⧁ āϤāĻžā§° āĻĒāĻŋāĻ›āϤ 4 m āĻĒāĻļā§āϚāĻŋāĻŽāϞ⧈ āĻ—’āϞāĨ¤)


Final position = 1 m west from start (āĻļ⧇āώ āĻ…ā§ąāĻ¸ā§āĻĨāĻžāύ = āφ⧰āĻŽā§āĻ­āĻŖāĻŋā§° āĻĒā§°āĻž 1 m āĻĒāĻļā§āϚāĻŋāĻŽāϤ)


Displacement = 1 m west (āϏ⧰āĻŖ = 1 m āĻĒāĻļā§āϚāĻŋāĻŽ)


Key Point / āĻŽā§āĻ–ā§āϝ āĻ•āĻĨāĻž: i. Displacement has magnitude and direction.(Displacement āϤ āĻŽāĻžāύ āφ⧰⧁ āĻĻāĻŋāĻļ āĻĻ⧁āϝāĻŧā§‹āϟāĻž āĻĨāĻžāϕ⧇āĨ¤)


ii. It is a vector quantity. (āχ āĻāϟāĻž Vector quantityāĨ¤)


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MCQ on Distance & Displacement



  1. What is distance ? Distance āĻ•āĻŋ ?


A. Shortest path  B. Total path travelled  C. Speed of object   D. Direction only


Ans: B. Total path travelled


Explanation: Distance is the complete path covered by an object. āĻŦā§āϝāĻžāĻ–ā§āϝāĻž: Distance āĻŽāĻžāύ⧇ āϕ⧋āύ⧋ āĻŦāĻ¸ā§āϤ⧁āϝāĻŧ⧇ āĻ…āϤāĻŋāĻ•ā§ā§°āĻŽ āϕ⧰āĻž āĻŽā§āĻ  āĻĒāĻĨāĨ¤


2. What is displacement ? Displacement āĻ•āĻŋ ?


A. Total path travelled  B. Speed of motion   C. Shortest straight path from start to end  D. Circular path


Ans: C. Shortest straight path from start to end


Explanation: Displacement is the shortest straight distance between initial and final position. āĻŦā§āϝāĻžāĻ–ā§āϝāĻž: Displacement āĻŽāĻžāύ⧇ āφ⧰āĻŽā§āĻ­āĻŖāĻŋ āφ⧰⧁ āĻļ⧇āώ āĻ…ā§ąāĻ¸ā§āĻĨāĻžāύ⧰ āĻŽāĻžāϜ⧰ āĻ¸ā§°ā§āĻŦāύāĻŋāĻŽā§āύ āϏ⧋āϜāĻž āĻĻā§‚ā§°āĻ¤ā§āĻŦāĨ¤


3. Which quantity has only magnitude ? āϕ⧋āύ ā§°āĻžāĻļāĻŋāϤ āĻ•ā§‡ā§ąāϞ āĻŽāĻžāύ āĻĨāĻžāϕ⧇ ?


A. Displacement  B. Velocity  C. Distance  D. Force


Ans: C. Distance


Explanation: Distance has magnitude only. āĻŦā§āϝāĻžāĻ–ā§āϝāĻž: Distance āϤ āĻ•ā§‡ā§ąāϞ āĻŽāĻžāύ āĻĨāĻžāϕ⧇āĨ¤


4. Which quantity has both magnitude and direction ? āϕ⧋āύ ā§°āĻžāĻļāĻŋāϤ āĻŽāĻžāύ āφ⧰⧁ āĻĻāĻŋāĻļ āĻĻ⧁āϝāĻŧā§‹āϟāĻž āĻĨāĻžāϕ⧇ ?


A. Distance  B. Speed   C. Displacement  D. Mass


Ans: C. Displacement


Explanation: Displacement is a vector quantity. āĻŦā§āϝāĻžāĻ–ā§āϝāĻž: Displacement āĻāϟāĻž vector quantityāĨ¤


5. Distance is a ______ quantity. Distance āĻāϟāĻž ______ ā§°āĻžāĻļāĻŋāĨ¤


A. vector  B. scalar  C. force  D. directional


Ans: B. scalar


Explanation: Scalar quantities have only magnitude. āĻŦā§āϝāĻžāĻ–ā§āϝāĻž: Scalar ā§°āĻžāĻļāĻŋāϤ āĻ•ā§‡ā§ąāϞ āĻŽāĻžāύ āĻĨāĻžāϕ⧇āĨ¤


6. Displacement is a ______ quantity. Displacement āĻāϟāĻž ______ ā§°āĻžāĻļāĻŋāĨ¤


A. scalar  B. vector  C. simple  D. fixed


Ans: B. vector


Explanation: Vector quantities have magnitude and direction. āĻŦā§āϝāĻžāĻ–ā§āϝāĻž: Vector ā§°āĻžāĻļāĻŋāϤ āĻŽāĻžāύ āφ⧰⧁ āĻĻāĻŋāĻļ āĻĻ⧁āϝāĻŧā§‹āϟāĻž āĻĨāĻžāϕ⧇āĨ¤


7. A person walks 3 m east and then 4 m north. What is the distance ? āĻāϜāύ āĻŦā§āϝāĻ•ā§āϤāĻŋāϝāĻŧ⧇ 3 m āĻĒā§‚āĻŦāϞ⧈ āφ⧰⧁ āϤāĻžā§° āĻĒāĻŋāĻ›āϤ 4 m āωāĻ¤ā§āϤ⧰āϞ⧈ āĻ—’āϞāĨ¤ Distance āĻ•āĻŋāĻŽāĻžāύ ?


A. 4 m  B. 5 m  C. 7 m  D. 12 m


Ans: C. 7 m


Explanation: Distance = 3 m + 4 m = 7 m. āĻŦā§āϝāĻžāĻ–ā§āϝāĻž: Distance = 3 m + 4 m = 7 māĨ¤


8. In the same example, what is the displacement ? āĻāϕ⧇āϟāĻž āωāĻĻāĻžāĻšā§°āĻŖāϤ displacement āĻ•āĻŋāĻŽāĻžāύ ?


A. 3 m  B. 4 m  C. 5 m  D. 7 m


Ans: C. 5 m


Explanation: Displacement is the shortest straight path: √(3² + 4²) = 5 m. āĻŦā§āϝāĻžāĻ–ā§āϝāĻž: Displacement āĻšā§ˆāϛ⧇ āĻ¸ā§°ā§āĻŦāύāĻŋāĻŽā§āύ āϏ⧋āϜāĻž āĻĻā§‚ā§°āĻ¤ā§āĻŦ: √(3² + 4²) = 5 m


9. Which of the following can never be zero if motion occurs ? āĻ—āϤāĻŋ āĻš’āϞ⧇ āϤāϞ⧰ āϕ⧋āύāĻŸā§‹ āϕ⧇āϤāĻŋāϝāĻŧāĻžāĻ“ āĻļā§‚āĻ¨ā§āϝ āύāĻšāϝāĻŧ ?


A. Displacement  B. Velocity  C. Distance  D. Acceleration


Ans: C. Distance


Explanation: Distance is always positive when an object moves. āĻŦā§āϝāĻžāĻ–ā§āϝāĻž: āĻŦāĻ¸ā§āϤ⧁ āĻ—āϤāĻŋ āϕ⧰āĻŋāϞ⧇ Distance āϏāĻĻāĻžāϝāĻŧ āϧāύāĻžāĻ¤ā§āĻŽāĻ• āĻšāϝāĻŧāĨ¤


10. Which statement is correct ? āϕ⧋āύ āωāĻ•ā§āϤāĻŋāĻŸā§‹ āϏāĻ āĻŋāĻ• ?


A. Distance can have direction   B. Displacement is always greater than distance


C. Distance is always equal to or greater than displacement   D. Distance is a vector quantity


Ans: C. Distance is always equal to or greater than displacement


Explanation: The total path is always greater than or equal to the shortest path. āĻŦā§āϝāĻžāĻ–ā§āϝāĻž : āĻŽā§āĻ  āĻĒāĻĨ āϏāĻĻāĻžāϝāĻŧ āĻ¸ā§°ā§āĻŦāύāĻŋāĻŽā§āύ āϏ⧋āϜāĻž āĻĻā§‚ā§°āĻ¤ā§āĻŦāϤāĻ•ā§ˆ āĻŦ⧇āĻ›āĻŋ āĻŦāĻž āϏāĻŽāĻžāύ āĻšāϝāĻŧ