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Re: reason for "s = distance travelled"



Je 09:57 AM 24.08.97 PST, herbgottlieb@juno.com skribis:

"Inge H. A. Pettersen" writes:
: "What is the reason for using >the letter s to denote distance
travelled ?".=20

The letter "d" is usually used for distance. For example , "A boy walks
100 meters north and then 100 meters south. What is the total distance
that he walked?"

The letter "s" is usually used for displacement. Regardless of the
distance that the boy walked, if he ends up at the same spot he started=20
from, his displacement is zero.

Hmm. But "ds" is along the path, no? =20
Integrate it to get path length: distance.

I don't like using "d" for anything except d/dt etc. r (or delta_r) seems
fairly satisfactory for displacement (x in 1-d).

But none of this addresses the question of the why "s" has been used. I've
always assumed it's from the German "Strecke" =3D span, distance. Any
confirmation?

Ken

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