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GK QUESTION#3116

How do the physical quantities distance and displacement fundamentally differ?

  1. ADisplacement includes direction; distance does notCorrect answer
  2. BDistance is defined only for circular motion
  3. CBoth represent identical measures of motion
  4. DDistance always has a negative value while displacement cannot
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Answer

A. Displacement includes direction; distance does not

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Explanation

Distance is the total path length and is a non-negative scalar. Displacement is the vector from the initial to the final position, so it includes direction. Its magnitude need not equal the distance travelled.

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