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Question

Which of the following is valid for displacement?


  1. It can not be zero if an object has travelled some distance.

  2. Its magnitude is always equal or greater than the distance travelled by an object.

  3. It is a scalar quantity.

  4. Its magnitude is equal to or less than the distance travelled by an object.

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Solution

The correct option is D

Its magnitude is equal to or less than the distance travelled by an object.


Displacement is the change in the position of an object. It has magnitude and direction.

Distance is the total movement of an object without any regard to direction.

It is the path length covered by the object

Explanation of correct option

Option D:

  1. In the figure, we can see that the blue line shows the distance.
  2. It is the path in which the object traveled.
  3. But the displacement is the shortest possible distance between the start and end points of a journey.
  4. Here, the distance is greater than displacement.
  5. The distance can be equal to displacement when the object travels in a straight line.
  6. Suppose an object travels from A to B in a straight line, then the displacement is the path length which is equal to AB and the distance is the shortest path between A and B, which is also AB.
  7. In such a case, distance and displacement will be the same.

So, the magnitude of displacement is always less than or equal to the distance.

Option D is correct.

Explanation of incorrect options

Option A,

Since it is the change in position of an object, if an object travels a certain distance and then returns to its initial position, displacement will be zero.

Option A is incorrect

Option B,

The magnitude of displacement is always less than or equal to the distance.

Option B is incorrect.

Option C,

Displacement has both magnitude and direction; it is the change in the position of an object. So it is a vector quantity.

Option C is incorrect.


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