Given the velocity of a moving particle v(t)=t^2+6t-7 at 0<=t<=4 Find the displacement and the distance it moved.

Solution and explanation: position function is found by antiderivative of v(t): S(t)=(1/3)t^3+3t^2-7t+S(0) S(0) is the position at t=0 Displacement is a vector, which has a direction. Since the particle is moving on a straight line, it has only two directions and they are opposite. They can be described by positive and negative signs. The displacement is the difference from its final position to its initial position. In any case, it can be calculated by integral the velocity over the given boundaries. In the above case, displacement is S(4)-S(0) = 124/3 Distance needs to be considered in two cases. If the particle moves in one direction and never changes direction it is simply the distance between the final position and the initial position and it is the absolute of its displacement. In the second case, the particle changes its direction, which means its velocity changes from positive to negative or vice versa, the distance is the summation of the absolute distance before changing directions and the absolute distance after changing directions. Therefore it is necessary to find the point when it changes directions, which is when v(t)=S'(t)=0. in the above problem, v(t)= t^2+6t-7=(t+7)(t-1) when t=-7 or t=1, v(t)=0 since t=-7 is not in the given domain [0,4], we only consider t=1 as the point when the particle changes direction. - The displacement from t=0 to t=1 is S(1)-S(0)=1/3+3-7+S(0)-S(0)=-11/3 (negative) - the distance moved from t=0 to t=1 is the absolute of displacement: |-11/3| = 11/3 -the displacement from t=1 to t=4 is S(4)-S(1)= (64/3+3*16-4*7+S(0)) - ( 1/3 +37+S(0)) = (124/3) - (-11/3) = 135/3 - the distance moved from t=1 to t=4 is the absolute of displacement: |135/3| = 135/3 The total distance moved from t=0 to t=4 is 11/3 + 135/3 = 146/3 For more: http://www.phengkimving.com/calc_of_one_real_var/12_app_of_the_intgrl/12_0 5_distance_and_displacement.htm