DISPLACEMENT

Displacement in mechanics, distance moved by a particle or body in a specific direction. It is a vector quantity, possessing both magnitude and direction. In the Figure, A is the initial position of a point, B is the final position, and the vector directed from A to B is the displacement. The distance traveled by the point depends on the path that it follows; it will be equal to the magnitude of the displacement only if the path is straight. In mechanics, it is frequently necessary to distinguish between the distance that a point movesor through which a force actsand the displacement of the point or the force.