What is meant by the total displacement?

Question

I understand that if one has a velocity-time graph, the total displacement is the area under that curve. My question is, what does it actually mean/represent?

Answer 1

Displacement is somewhat like distance. Distance is a scalar quantity, it only has a size. So I could say traveling 5m is a distance quantity. Displacement is a vector, meaning it has a size and direction. So I would have to say traveling 5m North, for example and must always be in a straight line.



Look at this image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Distancedisplacement.svg/336px-Distancedisplacement.svg.png

If someone walked across the blue line, his displacement from his start point will be the green line as that's has size and a specific direction. How far he is from his starting point is effectively what the displacement really is. The blue lines length is the distance traveled and the green lines length is the displacement.



The reason area under a velocity time graph is displacement is because displacement = velocity x time taken, and when calculating area you multiply the x and y variables, which are velocity and time in the graph.

Answer 2

Total displacement means the total distance travelled in time t and at velocity V, where V may vary during the period t.

Answer 3

that's a suited occasion of vector addition. permit's plot the displacement on the xy plane; down the sphere may be called "vertical" and area to area may be horizontal. the 1st vector has a vertical ingredient to 22m. common sufficient. It has a horizontal ingredient to 0 because he's only working straight away. the 2d vector has a vertical ingredient to (19)cos(24°) It additionally has a horizontal ingredient to (19)sin(24°) Getting this is uncomplicated in case you draw it out. His course is the hypotenuse, and you will place your attitude theta top and ruin it up into factors. We then upload the vectors ingredient-clever, upload the vertical factors and then upload up the horizontal factors. the ensuing vector has a magnitude equivalent to the sq. root of the sum of the squares of the climate. In orther words, the magnitude of the impressive displacement is the hypotenuse of a triangle made out of the x and y factors. by way of the replace indoors attitude rule, (only draw it out and you will see) the attitude between the unique displacement vector and the completed displacement vector is comparable to the arctangent of (the x ingredient divided by way of the y ingredient.)