Re: displacement and graphs

["Spagna Jr., George" <gspagna@RMC.EDU>]

Ken Fox asks:

> I am puzzled by authors who ask for a graph of position as a function of
> time but call it displacement. Am I alone? To me a displacement graph
> should mirror the velocity graph.

I'm confused. What do you mean by "mirror?"  As I understand it, in 1D,
displacement and position differ only in the arbitrary choice of origin for
position, and the establishment of an initial position for displacement.  In
either case, velocity vs time should be the slope of the position or
displacement vs time graph.

Or, have I misunderstood your posting?

*********************************************
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George Spagna
Department of Physics
Randolph-Macon College
P.O. Box 5005
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e-mail: gspagna@rmc.edu
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