What is the difference between distance and displacement?
Distance is the total path length (scalar, never decreases); displacement is the straight-line vector from start to finish (can be zero on a round trip).
Distance is the total path length (scalar, never decreases); displacement is the straight-line vector from start to finish (can be zero on a round trip). A reliable way to keep them apart is to focus on what each one is defined by, not just the similar-sounding words.
Key point
distance vs displacement
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