.Displacement is a measure of the change in position of an object in a particular direction. It is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude (size) and direction. It is often represented by the symbol "Δx" or "d".
Displacement is a change in position, while distance is the total length traveled. Distance is a scalar quantity, meaning it only has magnitude and no direction. Displacement takes into account the starting and ending positions of an object, while distance does not.
One common source of confusion is mixing up displacement and distance. Another cause could be not understanding the difference between displacement and velocity, which is the rate of change of displacement.
To calculate displacement, you need to know the initial position and the final position of an object. You can then subtract the initial position from the final position to find the displacement. Mathematically, it is represented as Δx = xf - xi, where Δx is the displacement, xf is the final position, and xi is the initial position.
Yes, displacement can be negative. This indicates that the object has moved in the opposite direction of the chosen reference point. For example, if the reference point is chosen to be the starting position, a negative displacement means the object has moved backwards from its starting position.