kristy_vincen said:
Displacement is a measurement of the distance and direction that an object has moved from its starting position. It is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude (size) and direction.
Distance is the total amount of ground covered by an object, while displacement takes into account the starting and ending positions. For example, if you walk in a circle and end up back at your starting point, your distance would be the circumference of the circle, but your displacement would be zero because you ended up back where you started.
Displacement can be calculated by subtracting the initial position from the final position. This gives you the straight-line distance between the two points, as well as the direction of the displacement.
Yes, displacement can be negative if the final position is to the left or below the initial position. This indicates that the object has moved in the opposite direction of the positive direction defined in the coordinate system.
An object falling from a height, a person walking in a straight line, and a car driving along a curvy road are all examples of displacement. In each case, the object's starting and ending positions are different, and the displacement measures the change in position.