Concept Of Position, Distance, And Displacement In Relation To X-Y Plane SS2 Physics Lesson Note

 POSITION

The position of an object in space or on a plane is the point at which the object can be located concerning a given point (the origin).

COORDINATES SYSTEM

i. Rectangular Cartesian Coordinate System

This is a system that consists of two or three intersecting lines mutually perpendicular and which serves as a reference frame that guides one in locating the position of a point in a plane or space.

This system also assigns direction(with arrowhead) to these reference lines(called the coordinate axes) and makes the distances measured from the point of intersection(known as the origin)positive along OX, OY and OZ and those measured in the opposite direction, negative.

ii. Plane: A plane is a geometric figure defined by two reference frames or 2-dimensional coordinate systems.

iii. SpaceA space is defined by three reference frames or 3-dimensional coordinate systems.

2. DISTANCE

This is a measure of the separation between two points. It has magnitude but no direction. Hence, it is a scalar quantity

Determination Of Distance Between Two Points

If two points A and B located in a plane are defined by two ordered pairs of values (X1 Y1) and (X2 Y2) or assumed to be in space where they are defined by (X1, Y1, Z1) and (X2, Y2, Z2) the distance between them can be determined by applying this relation.

3. DISPLACEMENT

Displacement is the distance covered in a specified direction. It is a vector quantity, which has the same unit as distance.

ASSIGNMENT

Highlight three differences between distance and displacement