DIRECTION IN MOTION

The ability to analyze aspects of motion – such as the speed of a travelling car, the movement of
an athlete or the trajectory of a tennis ball – is of interest not only to scientists, but also to public
officials and sports fans. Motion is all around us yet understanding how it comes about and how it
can change has challenged physicists for several thousand years. One important aspect of motion
that you may not readily think of is direction. Some physical quantities, like velocity, don’t make
sense unless a direction is also stated.

This morning you might have left your home and gone to school and then come home again after
school. If you live two kilometres from school, then you would have travelled a total distance of four
kilometres. A physicist might say that although your total distance travelled is four kilometres, your
total displacement during the day was zero. This is because there is a difference in the meaning of
distance and displacement. Suppose you tie one end of a ball of string onto the doorknob of your
house as you leave for school one morning. As you walk to school you let the string fall behind you
so that the length of string when you arrive at school is a perfect measure of the distance you have
walked.

Because it is unlikely that you would walk in a perfectly straight line to school, your direction and
therefore the direction of the string path will change many times during the journey from home to
school. When you get to school you could wind the string back up while counting the number of
metres of string that you have left behind you. This is the distance that you have walked to get to
school. On the map the red line shows the distance walked by a student from home to school. In
physics there is a word to describe the straight-line distance between your starting and finishing
point. This word is displacement. The black line shows the student’s displacement from home
when she gets to school.
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Interestingly, if the distance you walk from home to school is 2 kilometres, then the distance you
travel from home to school and back home again is 4 kilometres. But what would your
displacement be? You know that your displacement is the straight-line distance between your
starting and finishing points. If you start at home and finish the day’s journey at home, your starting
and finishing points are the same position (home) then your displacement for the day is actually
zero.

VECTOR AND SCALAR QUANTITIES

A quantity like displacement for which size and direction are given is called a VECTOR
QUANTITY. Distance has magnitude but no direction and is called a SCALAR QUANTITY. This
means that when a vector quantity is quoted, not only must the magnitude be indicated, but a
direction must also be given.

The table below lists some examples of vector and scalar quantities used in science.

VECTOR QUANTITIES SCALAR QUANTITIES

Displacement Distance
Velocity Speed
Acceleration Time
Force Mass
Momentum Temperature
Weight Area
Torque Work
Energy
Volume

An interesting example of the difference between speed, a scalar quantity, and velocity, a vector
quantity, is shown. The boat is moving around in a circle at a steady speed of 5 m s – 1. Its speed is
not changing at all, but its direction of travel is constantly changing. This means that its velocity is
also constantly changing.
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MOTION ACTIVITY

AIM: To experience scalar (distance) and vector (displacement) quantities.

Materials required per group: A field compass, paper to write on.

METHOD: 1. Choose a point A and then walk 50 paces east.

2. From this point, walk 70 paces north.
3. From this point walk 50 paces west.
4. From this point walk 100 paces south.

RESULTS: Measure the length of your pace and determine the total distance that you travelled.

Length of pace = 0.6 m

Total Distance Travelled = 162 m

Using the same measurement of length of pace, determine your displacement.

Displacement = 30 m S

QUESTIONS

1. Why was your displacement different from the distance you covered?
Displacement is the length from the starting point and the end point in a straight line. Distance is
how far a body has travelled, irrespective of direction, displacement is the distance moved in a
particular direction as measured in a direct line from the origin to the final position. Displacement
has magnitude and direction

2. What are the main sources of error in this experiment? How could you minimise them if you did
this experiment again?
Some paces were not to the exact measurement stated. Use a measurement tool to ensure that
measurements used are accurate. Inaccurate compass readings were also evident, to solve this
more reliable compasses could be used and provide a quick lesson on how to properly use one

DIRECTION IN MOTION QUESTIONS

3. Jo’s displacement is 100 m north. Explain what this means.

Her end point is 100 metres north in a straight line from where she originally started.

4. Describe a journey in which your displacement is zero, and another in which it is not zero.
50m south, 50 m west, 50m north, 50m east.
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5. Calculate the distance travelled and the displacement of each object shown below.

Figure Distance (m) Displacement (m)

a 700m 300m E
b 9km 1km S
c 14m 4m W

4. What is meant by the term vector quantity?

A quantity like displacement for which size and direction are given

5. List two vector and two scalar quantities.

Displacement and velocity are examples of vector quantities, distance and speed are examples of
scalar quantities

6. A motorbike rider travels 10 kilometres west on his motorbike, then 5 kilometres north and finally
5 kilometres east. The journey is shown on the diagram.

(a) Calculate the total distance that the motorbike rider went.
20km
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(b) Calculate the total displacement (magnitude only) of the motorbike rider’s journey.
7.1 km

7. Tia lives on a long straight road 250 m from the shops and 400 m from her friend James, who
lives in the opposite direction. Tia walks to the shops then goes to see James. After the walk what
distance did Tia walk? What was Tia’s displacement?

900m in distance and, 400 m in displacement in the opposite direction she started

8. A snail starts at a position (marked A on a ruler) 20 cm from the origin (marked O on a ruler) and
then moves to a new position (marked B on a ruler) 60 cm further away from the origin before
going back past the origin to a position (marked C on a ruler) 20 cm on the other side of the origin.
It finally ends up at the origin. What was the distance travelled by the snail. What was the
displacement of the snail?

The snail travelled 140cm. the displacement is 20 cm W