Displacement is defined by magnitude and direction, whereas distance is defined by:
AMagnitude alone
BDirection alone
CNeither of the two
DBoth, but reversed
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. Magnitude alone
1. The two words are not interchangeable in physics.
2. Displacement is defined by both direction and magnitude, so it is a vector.
3. Distance is defined only by magnitude, so it is a scalar.
4. That is why a round trip has zero displacement but a non-zero distance travelled.
_Source: OpenStax College Physics for AP(R) Courses 2e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 2 'Kinematics', sections 2.1-2.8_
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