Question

What do you understand by the given statement: The path length covered by a body is zero?

Answer 1

1. The smallest distance measured between the initial and final positions of a moving body in a specific direction is called displacement as it moves from one position to another.
2. The distance traveled by a moving body in a particular amount of time is the actual length of the path traversed by that body.
3. As a result, a body's displacement can be zero yet its distance can be finite. If the body returns to its initial position in a circular motion, for instance, the total distance is finite but the displacement is always zero.
4. So, if the path length covered by a body is zero, then that implies distance and displacement are zero.
5. Also, We know, Mathematically, work done $\mathrm{W}$ can be expressed as; $\mathrm{W}=\mathrm{F}·s\cos \left(\theta \right)$, where $\mathrm{F}$ represented the amount of force exerted and $s$ represented the displacement.
6. So if displacement is zero then work done will also be zero.