Physics 30 vocab

When we talk about things moving, we first need to define a few concepts.

Distance is the total path an object travels, regardless of direction. If you walk 5 meters north and then 5 meters south, you've covered a total distance of 10 meters. Displacement is the straight-line change in position from start to end, including direction. In that same example, if you end up back where you started, your displacement is 0 meters. Displacement is a vector quantity (has magnitude and direction), while distance is a scalar quantity (only magnitude).