How can I calculate the magnitude of displacement?
1 Answer
May 29, 2018
Explanation:
- think of a point P on the curvilinear path that moves from point A to point B.
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The movement of the P point can be described by a reference point.
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That reference point is O (0,0).
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The coordinates of points A and B are
#(x_1, y_1) # and#(x_2, y_2)# respectively. -
Now let's draw a vector pointing to the first position of the P point. This vector is the position vector.
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As the dot moves, the length and direction of the vector change.
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We describe the change in the position of the point P with a vector because the displacement takes place in a certain direction.
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This vector is represented by green color.
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the magnitude of the displacement vector (green) can be calculated by various methods.
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We can use the Pythagorean theorem in the ABC triangle.
#|o|=sqrt((x_2-x_1)^2+(y_2-y_1)^2)#
