Question

For a moving particle, what does 'decrease in displacement with time' mean?

• A. The particle is moving towards its initial position.
• B. The acceleration of the particle is approaching zero.
• C. The particle is moving with uniform speed.
• D. The particle is moving with uniform motion.

Answer 1

The correct option is A

The particle is moving towards its initial position.

Step 1: Displacement

1. Displacement is defined as the shortest path or shortest distance between the initial and final position.
2. As the quantity displacement has both magnitude and direction, it is a vector quantity.

Step 2: Explanation for the correct option

1. As displacement is the shortest distance between the initial and final point, a decrease in displacement with time means displacement is decreasing with time this represents that the initial and final points are coming towards each other.
2. Let us consider an example of a body moving from point A to B which are at a distance of 10 meters from each other
3. Then the body moves from B towards A covering only 5 meters.
4. In this situation, the distance covered by the body will be $\left(10+5\right)$m that is $15$m
5. The displacement of the body will be $\left(10-5\right)$m that is $5$ meters
6. So here we can say that the object is moving toward its initial position.
7. When the body will move more and more toward the initial position, the displacement will decrease.

Hence, the statement ‘decrease in displacement with time’ means the body is moving towards the initial position.