Displacement

Q. What do you mean by the term Displacement

Displacement

Let us suppose that a cat starts from point A and reaches point B. Its notion from A to B has been shown in the above figure. So we say that the cat has covered a distance of 10 meters which is actually the length of the zigzag path. The straight line AB. Joining the point A to B is 6 meters long. It means that the straight line distance between A and B is 6 meters. Hence Displacement can be defined as the least distance from one point in the direction of other point. In present case displacement from A to B is AB and it is 6 meters.

Hence it can be said that displacement is concerned only with the direction and the straight line distance between two points i.e. it determines overall position.