Angular Displacement
Contents
Key Stage 5
Meaning
Angular displacement is the angle through which an object in circular motion has turned in a given time.
About Angular Displacement
- Measured in radians (rad).
- Represents the change in position of an object along a circular path.
- As the quantity has direction it may be positive or negative, but once decided that clockwise or anti-clockwise is positive the other should be negative.
- Angular displacement can be calculated using the arc length divided by the radius.
- It is a vector quantity, having both magnitude and direction.
- Angular displacement is an essential parameter in rotational kinematics.
- Angular displacement is used in calculating other rotational quantities like angular velocity.
Examples
- The hands of a clock show angular displacement as they move.
- Earth’s rotation involves angular displacement of 2π radians in 24 hours.