Video Transcript
Is displacement a vector quantity
or a scalar quantity? Is it (A) vector or (B) scalar?
This question asks us whether a
displacement is a vector quantity or a scalar quantity. Recall that the difference between
a vector and a scalar is that a scalar quantity only has a magnitude, whereas a
vector quantity has a magnitude and a direction. So the question we must ask
ourselves is, does a displacement have a direction?
The displacement of an object is
the straight-line path that the object would travel from one point to another. It is vital to recognize that the
object must travel from one point to another point. The object has an initial position
and a final position. As the object travels in a straight
line from one point to another, the object must travel in a specific direction when
traveling from one point to the other. Therefore, we can say that
displacement is a vector, not a scalar, quantity.
