Which of the following is a vector quantity?
- A.Distance
- B.Speed
- C.Displacement
- D.Time
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, displacement. It is the shortest distance from the starting point to the finishing point together with the direction of that straight line, so it has both magnitude and direction and is therefore a vector.
Option A, distance, is the total length of the path travelled and carries no direction, so it is a scalar; option B, speed, is distance divided by time and is a scalar for the same reason, while velocity, which is displacement divided by time, is a vector. Option D, time, is a scalar. The standard illustration is a runner completing one lap of a circular track: the distance covered equals the circumference, but the displacement is zero because the runner ends where the lap began. Remember the pairs, distance with speed as scalars and displacement with velocity as vectors.
Read the full article: Motion, Force and Newton's Laws: Formulas and Facts
Practice Questions
View allNewton's first law of motion is also known by which name?
- A.Law of inertia
- B.Law of momentum
- C.Law of action and reaction
- D.Law of gravitation
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The first law states that a body continues in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line unless an unbalanced external force acts on it, which is exactly the property called inertia.
Read the full explanation →The equation force equals mass multiplied by acceleration follows from which law of motion?
- A.First law
- B.Second law
- C.Third law
- D.Law of conservation of energy
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It states that the rate of change of momentum of a body is proportional to the applied force and takes place in the direction of the force.
Read the full explanation →The recoil of a gun when a bullet is fired is explained by the conservation of which quantity?
- A.Energy
- B.Linear momentum
- C.Mass
- D.Electric charge
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Before firing, the gun and the bullet are at rest, so the total momentum of the system is zero.
Read the full explanation →What is the SI unit of momentum?
- A.Newton
- B.Joule
- C.Kilogram metre per second
- D.Newton per second
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Momentum is the product of mass and velocity, so its unit is the unit of mass multiplied by the unit of velocity, that is kilogram multiplied by metre per second.
Read the full explanation →A passenger standing in a moving bus falls forward when the bus stops suddenly. This is due to
- A.Inertia of rest
- B.Inertia of motion
- C.Inertia of direction
- D.Centripetal force
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While the bus is moving, the passenger's whole body moves with it. When the brakes are applied, the feet stop along with the floor of the bus, but the upper body tends to keep moving forward at the same speed, and the passenger is thrown forward.
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