Displacement

Straight-line distance and direction of an object's change in position.

In physics, displacement refers to the change in position of an object measured as the straight-line distance and direction from its initial point to its final point.

/dɪˈspleɪsmənt/

Displacement comes from the Old French word 'desplacer' meaning to move or remove.

Displacement tells you how far an object has moved from its starting point in a straight line, and which way it went.

Displacement is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude and direction
A runner completing one lap of a track has zero displacement because they end up where they started
Displacement can be calculated using trigonometry if you know the object's movement in two dimensions

What is displacement? It's the change in position of an object
How does it differ from distance? Distance is total path length, while displacement is a straight-line change
Is displacement always positive? No, it can be negative depending on the direction

motion vector

translation linear displacement

kinematics