Distance, displacement and

velocity
Created @November 30, 2022 3:08 PM

Class PHYS9702

Chapter Kinematics 1

Materials

Reviewed

State of the notes Finished

Knowledge checklist
I can…

Create, interpret a displacement/velocity-time graph

Define and differentiate distance and displacement

Define velocity and differentiate it with speed

Content

Distance, displacement and velocity 1

 Displacement and distance travelled

💡 Displacement is not the same as the distance travelled, although similar

Displacement is the distance between the final destination and the initial position

Distance travelled is the length of the path the object took

Here, the dotted line is the distance travelled, the normal line
is the displacement

Velocity

💡 Do not mistake velocity with speed, velocity needs to be denoted with a

direction

Velocity is the displacement of an object over time.

Distance, displacement and velocity 2

 Final velocity is denoted as v, however, initial velocity is denoted as u

v = s/t

Displacement-time graphs
Displacement-time graphs are a way to denote the displacement of an object over
time.

The displacement is usually on the y-axis, while time is on the x-axis.

Distance, displacement and velocity 3

 The gradient of the line is the velocity of the object, therefore

v = Δs/Δt

Adding vectors

1. Rearrange the vectors to have each tail on a head until each vector forms one line.

2. Find the distance between the “head” and the “tail”, usually done using the
Pythagoreas Theorem

THIS IS A TEXTBOOK DEFINITION and this is not the easiest way to do it in most
cases. The following is a “shortcut”.

Distance, displacement and velocity 4

 1. Rearrange the vectors to form a continuous line

2. Calculate the distance between the beginning of vector A and end of vector B by
making one big triangle with sides Cₓ = Aₓ + Bₓ and Cᵧ = Aᵧ + Bᵧ
3. Find the hypotenuse of triangle C

Distance, displacement and velocity 5