DISTANCE AND DISPLACEMENT

HOW FAR?

In science, motion is

defined as the change in

position for a particular

time interval. You can

then start describing

motion with the question,

“How far did the object

travel?”

How far did the object

travel?

There are actually two

ways to answer this

question. First is by

getting the total length

of the path travelled by

the object.

Example: The dog ran 10m to the

east, then 5m to the south, and

another 10m to the west. So it has

travelled a total of 25 meters. (DRAW)

The other way is by measuring

the distance between the initial

position and final position of

the object. The dog has travelled

5 meters to the south.

In science, the first

measurement gives

the distance

travelled by the

object while the

second measurement

gives its

Adobe file: Here are more

illustrations showing the

difference between distance

travelled (represented by

broken lines) by an object and

its displacement (represented

by continuous lines).

Can you give one difference

between distance and

displacement base on the

given examples?

When can displacement be

equal to zero?

Is it possible to get zero

displacement?

What if the ball, the car, and the

dog in the illustration go back to

their starting positions, what will

happen to their respective

distances? How about their

displacements?

If you answered these questions

correctly, then you have most

probably understood the

difference between distance and

displacement.

Distance refers to the length of

the entire path that the object

travelled.

Displacement refers to the

shortest distance between the

object’s two positions, like the

distance between its point of

origin and its point of

destination, no matter what

path it took to get to that

When a graph is plotted in terms

of the distance travelled by the

object and the time it took to

cover such distance, the graph

can be called distance-time

graph. If the graph is plotted in

terms of displacement and time,

it is called displacement-time

graph. Refer to the graph in

Figure 7. (adobe)

What is the displacement of

the object after 2 seconds?

What is its displacement

after 6 seconds? How will

you describe the motion of

the object between 0s and

2s, between 2s and 4s, and

between 4s and 6s?

ACTIVITY: MY HOME TO SCHOOL ROADMAP

Objective: In this

activity you should be

able to make a roadmap

that shows how you get

to school from your

house.

PROCEDURE:

1. Devise a way to easily measure distance.

2. Using your measuring device, gather the data that you will need for your roadmap.

3. Make sure that you

take down notes of all

names of the roads,

landmarks, corners,

posts, and

establishments you pass

by.

4. Record your data

5. Using your gathered

data, draw your house-

school roadmap on a

short bond paper. Decide

on the most convenient

scale to use when you

draw your roadmap.

6. Label your roadmap

properly, including

names of the roads,

establishments, etc.

Specify also the length

of the road.

ANSWER THE FF:

What is the total length of

your travel from your

house to your school?

What is the total

displacement of your

travel?