DISTANCE

AND
DISPLACEMENT
Distance and Displacement are two
quantities that may seem to mean the
same thing yet have distinctly
different definitions and meanings.
Distance is a scalar quantity that refers to
"how much ground an object has covered"
during its motion.

Displacement is a vector quantity that refers

to "how far out of place an object is"; it is the
object's overall change in position.
Constant Velocity has unit of distance per time.
The velocity gives you information about the
rate of change of your position or how fast your
distance is changing per unit time.
Velocity unit Description
m/s Meters per second
Km/h or kph Kilometers per hour
Mi/h or mhp Miles per hour
EXAMPLE
8m
3m

DISTANCE=8m + 3m= 11m

DISPLACEMENT= -
Distance: only magnitude
scalar

Displacement: magnitude
vector and direction
 4m

2m 2m

4m
 SPEED
A scalar quantity refers to the rate
of motion. It is the ratio of distance
covered and the time of travel.
 d= vt
d= distance or displacement
v= speed or velocity
t= time
Speed Velocity
Scalar Vector
+ +, -
magnitude magnitude
&
direction
Example
45m/s
speed

30m/s
velocity
west
Velocity= -20 m/s
Speed = 20m/s
Speed=│velocity│
 Average speed=

d=vt =
Example:
Lydia de Vega is a world known
Filipino track and field athlete. She can
run the 100-m dash in about 11.0
seconds. What is her average speed?
In a 400-meter race on a curved track, a
sprinter completes the first 100 meters in 10
seconds, the next 200 meters in 20 seconds,
and the final 100 meters in 12 seconds.
2. A banca takes about 1.0 h to travel a
distance of 15 km. A sailboat travels the
same distance in 0.5 h. The same distance
is traveled by a motorboat in 0.3 h.
a. Compute the average speed of each
vessel.
EXAMPLE:

50m/s d=vt
d= 1000m
t=?
Average velocity=

𝑑
𝑣=
𝑡
EXAMPLE:

12m. east in 2m
and 20m. west in 4 min
24mi. east in 4hrs
and 12mi. west in 2 hrs
 Acceleration
An object is accelerated when it speeds
up, slows down or changes direction.
In other words, the motion is accelerated
when the velocity of the object changes.
Recall that velocity refers to both
magnitude (speed) and direction.
Acceleration
a=

a=
A race car’s forward velocity
increases from 4.0 m/s to 36 m/s
over a 4.0 s-time interval. What
is its average acceleration?
EXAMPLE:
TRUCK CAR
0 to 60mph 0 to 60mph
30s 5s