Question

A runner starts at position zero and moves in one direction to position 12m 3. What is the distance traveled by the runner?

Answer 1

Distance = 12 m

Explanation:

Distance covered by the runner is same as the total path that he has ran. Here, a person starts at 0 position and goes in one direction to position 12 m. Since the initial point is 0 and the final position is 12, the total distance is calculated by adding the 2 points as: 0+12 = 12 m. So the distance covered and the displacement both are same which is 12 meters.

Distance traveled is the full length of the path covered between two points. It is not a vector and the direction is nil and no negative sign.  Example : The distance walked by the teacher is 3.0 m ,The distance walked by a passenger is 5.0 m. Also, the distance traveled need not be equal to the magnitude of the displacement which is the distance between the two positions.