SPH3U Grade 11 University Physics Unit 1: Kinematics

1.1 Position, Distance, and Displacement

Scalars and Vectors
To be able describe a situation of moving objects more precisely, we need to account for a
direction. Most of the previous measurements we have dealt with in science previously were
scalar values.

Scalar is a measurement that only has a _______________________

Vector is a measurement that has both a _______________________ and a _________________________

Vector Notation
There are generally 3 ways to represent a vector quantity symbolically

1. An arrow point to the 2. When writing, half an 3. Some textbooks bold the
right is drawn above the arrow to the right (harpoon) symbol to indicate that it is
symbol is drawn instead a vector
for convenience

We have to indicate the direction in brackets after the vector.

Example. Batman is driving at 240 km h
[West].

Direction Convention
Because we use mathematics to describe reality, we need a way to convert directions (such as
north, south, east, west, up, down, etc.) in a way that we can mathematically manipulate. For
example, we can’t exactly add [East] and [North] in the same way we can add 2 + 1.

To specify the direction of a vector mathematically

We first decide upon a direction.

All vectors pointing in

• the same (pre-decided) direction are _________________________
• pointed in the OPPOSITE of the pre-decided direction are _________________________

Example. Suppose we specify west as the positive direction.

Then _________________________ will be negative.

13 m east would be written as __________________________________

27 m would be written as __________________________________

Explain why −27 𝑚 [West] does not mean that the object is located 27 m west. What direction
is the object is positioned at.

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SPH3U Grade 11 University Physics Unit 1: Kinematics

Position
Position is indicating where an object is in 1, 2 or 3-dimensional space (along a line, plane, and
space respectively). To indicate the objects’ position, we need a vector and a reference point. It
is no good to say the phone is 2 m north. North from where or what? That what or where is the
reference point.

Reference Point: A place, point, or coordinate which is used as a standard to measure

the position of other objects.

Position (𝒅):⃗ Represents the position of point P from a fixed reference point. The position
vectors indicate the direction from the to the position P.

Example. Let us designate East as the Positive Direction. Now suppose 0 is the reference
point.
• Person A is 4 m east from the reference point
• Person B is 3 m west from the reference point
• Person C is 6 m east from the reference point

For each of the following people

1. Indicate their position on the diagram below
2. Express mathematically their position using vector notation

Distance and Displacement

Note that even though that person A and B are both the same distance of 3 m away from the
reference point, we would not say that person A is −3 m. Distance is ALWAYS positive.
However, the negative sign in vectors is to indicate the direction.

Displacement 𝛥𝑑:⃗ The change in the position’s object

Specifically, is the both the distance AND direction from the objects’ position at the of the
interval and the object’s position at the of the interval.
It is expressed mathematically as
𝛥𝑑 ⃗ = 𝑑2⃗ − 𝑑1⃗

Where 𝑑2⃗ is the object’s final position and ⃗⃗𝑑⃗⃗1 is the object’s initial position?

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SPH3U Grade 11 University Physics Unit 1: Kinematics

Example. Suppose an object is initially 15 m east and then after some interval of time was 8 m
west.

a) Express the object’s final and initial position as vectors

b) Find the object’s displacement over the interval.
c) Now suppose the object’s initial position was 8 m west and its final position was 15 m
east, determine the object’s displacement.

Remark: Notice that the displacement in the example above differs by a sign. The sign
indicates the direction of travel. The number or (magnitude) indicates the distance between the
initial and final position.

In both cases the distance is the same because the space between the initial and final position is
the same. The displacement is different because the direction of direction of travel is different.

Difference between Distance and Displacement

Distance: The of the path the object travelled. It is the straight-line distance (and direction)
between the starting and ending point
Displacement:

If the object’s initial and final position over some time interval is the same, the object’s
displacement is __________________________

There are two conditions when this is possible

• The object has not _________________________

• The object moved but ended at the same location at the end of the interval.

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SPH3U Grade 11 University Physics Unit 1: Kinematics

Example. Wolverine is standing 1 m [East] of the House of X (Reference Position)

• He walks 3 m east
• Then walks 1 m west
• Then walks 4 m east
• Then walks 8 m west
• Then walks 2 m west
• Then walks 1 m east

The diagram below is vertically spaced, so it is easier to see Wolverine’s movement as he moves
back and forth. In reality, Wolverine’s position would be along a single line drawn from left to
right.

Fill out the following table and answer the following questions
a) What is wolverine’s total displacement throughout its journey
b) What is wolverine’s total distance travelled?
Interval Position at Position at the Displacement Total
Start of end of the during Displacement
Interval interval interval

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SPH3U Grade 11 University Physics Unit 1: Kinematics

Position, Distance, and Displacement Homework

1. A dog is practicing for her agility competition. She leaves her trainer and runs 80 m due west to pick
up a ball. She then carries the ball 27 m due east and drops it into a bucket.
a) Draw a diagram?
b) What is the displacement of the dog? ANS: 107 m
c) What is the total distance the dog moves? ANS: 53 m [W]
2. A car moves west a distance of 20 m. Then the car moves east a distance of 15 m. Then, the car
moves west a distance of 8 m.
a) Draw a diagram ANS:
b) What is the total distance the car moves? ANS: 43 m
c) What is the displacement of the car? ANS: 13 m [W]
3. A school bus was at some initial position and ended up at a final position of 46 m [W]. If the bus has
a displacement of a) 33 m [E] b) 86 m [W], determine the bus’s initial position.

MALL LIBRARY
H SCHOOL

500 m
west east
1000 m 1200 m
a) Imagine that you walk from home to school in a straight-line route. What is your
displacement? ANS: 500 m [E]
b) What is your displacement if you walk from your school to the library? ANS: 13 m [W]
c) One night after working at the library, you decide to go to the mall. What is your total
displacement when walking from the library to the mall? ANS: 2200 m [W]
4. The Kid Flash sets out from his home to deliver flyers, travelling north along his street lined with
houses. At 0.5 km north of his house, he runs out flyers and has to retrace his steps back to his house
to get more. After picking up more flyers, he sets out again on the same path, continuing where he
left off, and ends up 1.5 km from his house. He sees that Brotherblood just robbed a bank 2.2 km
south of his house and immediately runs to the bank. Upon arriving the bank, Brotherblood begins to
run and Kid Flash gives chase, running 0.8 km south before catching him. He then escorts
Brotherblood to Jail which is 6.0 km north of where he caught Brotherblood.
a) What was the total distance that Kid Flash? ANS: 12 km
b) What was the displacement of Kid Flash? ANS: 3.5 km [N]
5. Is it possible to have a distance of 0 and a non-zero displacement?
6. Is it possible to have a non-zero displacement and a
distance of 0?
7. To the right is a diagram showing a 400 m symmetrical
track. Suppose Captain America’s was initially at
starting line, 𝑑1⃗ . He then proceeds to run
counterclockwise, reaching 𝑑2⃗ , 𝑑3⃗ and 𝑑4⃗ .
a) What Captain America’s displacement
between 𝑑1⃗ and 𝑑4⃗ ? ANS: 0 m
b) What was the distance Captain America ran during the same interval?
ANS: 400 m
c) What was Captain America’s displacement between 𝑑1⃗ and 𝑑3⃗ ? ANS: 78 m
⃗
d) What was the distance Captain America ran between 𝑑1 and 𝑑3 ? ⃗ ANS: 300 m