When you tutor physics, a concept that soon comes up is scalar vs vector.\u00a0 It’s not something most people ever think much about, but\u00a0the difference is very important – especially in Science 10 and Physics 11.<\/p>\n
For example:\u00a0 distance is a scalar, but displacement is a vector.\u00a0 If you drive to the store (10 km away),\u00a0then return home, of course\u00a0you’ve driven a distance<\/strong> of\u00a020 km.\u00a0 Distance is a scalar, so you just add the km going to the ones returning.<\/p>\n For the same situation, your displacement<\/strong> when you get back is 0\u00a0km<\/strong>.\u00a0 That’s because, being a vector, displacement considers the direction as well as the value.\u00a0 From the displacement point of view, every km you travelled to the store got cancelled out as you returned.\u00a0 For any round trip, your displacement is 0 km<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Displacement can also be defined as how far you\u00a0are from where you started.\u00a0 It\u00a0includes the direction you are from your start point.\u00a0\u00a0Naturally, if you’re back where you started, your displacement is 0.<\/p>\n