Unit 6 · Force and Motion

Distance and Displacement Presentation

ScienceSubject
12 minEstimated read
Slide 1 of 4
Unit 6 · Force and Motion

Distance and Displacement

Science & Technology · Grade 7

Learning Objectives

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Define distance and displacement, and say which question each answers

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Explain why one is a scalar and the other is a vector

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Say when displacement is zero, when it equals distance, and when it is negative

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Work out both for a real walk you measure yourself

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You walked seventy metres and you are standing exactly where you began. Distance says seventy. Displacement says zero. Both are correct.

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Presenter notes: Do not define anything yet. Send one student out of the classroom door, right round the building, and back in through the same door while the class waits. When they return, ask two questions in this order. Did you move? Obviously yes, and they may be out of breath. How far are you now from where you started? Silence, then somebody says nowhere. Tell them that both answers are correct and that physics has two separate words for them, and that by the end of the period they will never mix those words up again.