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Forces

Distance, displacement and speed

  • 3 things to know
  • Physics Paper 2

Overview

Distance as a scalar and displacement as a vector with magnitude and direction, speed as a scalar that rarely stays constant, the factors affecting how fast people walk, run and cycle, typical speeds for walking, running, cycling, cars and aeroplanes, and other things whose speed varies.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What does the quantity distance tell you about the movement of an object?

Key term

Why is distance classed as a scalar quantity?

Key term

What two pieces of information together make up a displacement?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What does the quantity distance tell you about the movement of an object?

    Model answer

    Distance tells you how far the object has moved.

  2. 2

    Why is distance classed as a scalar quantity?

    Model answer

    Distance has a size only and takes no account of direction.

  3. 3

    How is the displacement of an object measured?

    Model answer

    It is measured in a straight line from the start point to the finish point.

  4. 4

    What two pieces of information together make up a displacement?

    Model answer

    The straight-line distance from start to finish, and the direction of that straight line.

  5. 5

    Why is displacement classed as a vector quantity?

    Model answer

    Displacement has both a size and a direction.

  6. 6

    An athlete runs one complete lap of a track and finishes where they started. What is their displacement?

    Model answer

    Their displacement is zero, because the finish point is the same as the start point.

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Scalar means a quantity with magnitude only.
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