Year 10 Textbook

St. Mary’s College Science Department
Year 10 Science
Topic 2: Forces and Movement
The distance between Derry and Belfast is roughly 115 Kilometres.
But the displacement between Derry and Belfast is 115 Kilometres South-
East.
Basically Displacement is just Distance is a specific direction.
The direction of a displacement is represented by the direction of an
arrow and the length of the arrow represents the distance.
For example:
represents a displacement of 5 Km East
and
represents a displacement of 10 Km West
because the arrow is twice as long and the opposite direction.
Derry
Belfast
The arrow represents a distance of 115 Km
but because it is a specific direction (South-
East), it is called a displacement of 115 Km
South-East.
If you travelled from Derry to Belfast and
back again, the distance is 230 Km but the
displacement is O Km (because you have not
moved in any direction from your starting
point.
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