Practice Displacement in Physics

Use these practice problems to test your method after reviewing the concept explanation and worked examples.

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Quick Recap

The change in position of an object, measured as the straight-line distance and direction from the starting point to the ending point.

How far you are from where you started, in a straight line. Not the path you took.

Showing a random 20 of 50 problems.

Example 1

medium
A boat sails 4 km north, 4 km east, 4 km south. Find the displacement from start.

Example 2

hard
A particle moves 20 m at 30° above horizontal, then 15 m horizontally. Find the displacement components and magnitude.

Example 3

medium
A hiker walks 8 m east then 6 m south. Find the magnitude and direction of the displacement.

Example 4

easy
A person walks 4 m east and then 3 m north. What is the total distance traveled and the displacement?

Example 5

hard
A car goes 30 m east in 5 s, then 50 m west in 10 s. Find the average velocity (with sign).

Example 6

hard
A particle moves with velocity v(t)=4−2t m/s. Find the displacement from t=0 to t=3 s.

Example 7

easy
A car drives 100 m north and then 100 m south. What is the displacement?

Example 8

hard
A plane flies 100 km east, then 100 km at 60° north of east. Find the magnitude of the total displacement.

Example 9

challenge
Vectors: a walk is 7 m east then 24 m north. Find the displacement magnitude and confirm it is a Pythagorean triple.

Example 10

medium
A runner laps a 400 m track exactly once. Distance and displacement?

Example 11

easy
True or false: distance traveled is always greater than or equal to the magnitude of displacement.

Example 12

easy
A drone returns to its launch pad after a tour. What is its displacement magnitude?

Example 13

medium
An elevator goes up 10 m, down 4 m, up 2 m. Net vertical displacement (up positive)?

Example 14

medium
A drone flies 15 m east, 8 m north, then 9 m west. Find the magnitude of the displacement.

Example 15

challenge
A car accelerates from rest at a=2 m/s2 for 5 s, then maintains its speed for 5 more seconds. Find the total displacement.

Example 16

easy
An object moves from x=−3 m to x=+4 m. Find the displacement.

Example 17

easy
A walker goes 3 m north then 4 m north. What is the total displacement?

Example 18

medium
A runner's position changes from x=4 m to x=4 m after a lap, but she ran 400 m. Give displacement and distance.

Example 19

medium
A runner completes one full lap around a 400 m circular track. What is the runner's displacement and total distance?

Example 20

easy
A particle's displacement is given as '6 m'. What is missing to make it a complete vector statement?
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Related Concepts

PositionVelocityVectors