Paper 3 · Kinematics and Dynamics
Which statement correctly distinguishes distance from displacement?
ADistance measures only straight-line motion between two points; displacement instead measures the total curved path length an object actually travels.
BDistance is a vector describing direction of travel; displacement is a scalar describing only how far, in total, has been covered without a stated direction.
CDistance is the total length of the path travelled, a scalar with no direction; displacement is the straight-line distance from start to finish, in a stated direction, a vector.
DDistance and displacement always come out numerically equal for any motion, differing from each other only in which units are conventionally used to express them, a coincidence treated here as a general physical law rather than a special case.
Explanation: Distance is the total length of the path actually travelled by an object, with no direction associated with it; displacement is the straight-line distance between the starting point and the finishing point, together with a stated direction. Distance is a scalar and displacement is a vector.
Derived from ZIMSEC Physics Paper 3, November 2003, Q1