Question

In a long distance race, the athletes were expected to take four rounds of the track such that the line of finish was the same as the line of start. Suppose the length of the track was 200 m. Is the displacement of the athlete and the distance moved by him at the end of the race equal?
A. No
B. Yes, both have the value of 800 m.
C. Yes both have the value of 0 m.
D. None of the above.

Answer 1

We are asked to find if the distance travelled by the athlete and the displacement by him are the same. We know that displacement is given as the shortest distance between the initial point and the final point. So, we will calculate the distance and the displacement by the athlete and check if they are equal to each other.

Complete answer:
It is given that the length of the track is 200 m. The athletes were supposed to take four rounds of the track.
Therefore, we know that the total distance will be 4 times 200 m. Which gives us the total distance of 800 m.
Now, we know that displacement is the shortest distance from the initial point to final point. We have been given that the athletes must complete 4 rounds such that the starting point and end points are the same. Therefore, it means that the displacement is zero. This proves that the distance and displacement are not equal

Therefore, the correct answer is option A.

Note:
Displacement is a vector quantity, direction of motion of the body is therefore considered. It is independent of the path taken by the body. Displacement is usually taken as the straight distance between initial and final point. The SI unit of displacement is the same as distance i.e. meter (m). The concept of displacement can be well explained by Pythagoras's theorem. Where hypotenuse is the displacement.