Use this displacement calculator to find the distance traveled or the “displacement” of an object using its initial velocity, final velocity, and the time it traveled from point A to point B. When you learn how to find displacement, you can use the displacement formula where you multiply an object’s average velocity by the time it traveled.
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How to use the displacement calculator?
Even before you learn how to calculate displacement, you can use this displacement calculator to find the value of displacement. It’s an easy to use online tool which does the work for you so you don’t have to calculate manually. Here are the steps to follow:
- First, enter the value of the Initial Velocity and choose the unit of measurement from the drop-down menu.
- Then enter the value of the Final Velocity and choose the unit of measurement from the drop-down menu.
- Finally, enter the value of the Time and choose the unit of measurement from the drop-down menu.
- After entering all of the values, the calculator automatically gives you the value of the Displacement.
What is displacement physics?
In physics, displacement refers to the minimum or shortest distance between two given points. Displacement has a proper magnitude and direction. If you know how to find displacement even without a displacement calculator, you also know that displacement can be a positive or a negative value.
How do you calculate the displacement?
If you’re wondering how to calculate displacement in physics, all you have to do is solve for the distance between the initial position of an object and its final position. To perform the calculation, use the displacement formula which is:
s = sf – si
where:
s refers to the displacement
si refers to the initial position
sf refers to the final position
To illustrate this, let’s use an example. Let’s assume that you have a new golf ball which tends to roll around a lot. The ball keeps on rolling around the top of a huge measuring stick and you’d like to solve for the displacement each time the ball moves.
To do this, place the ball at a starting position on the measuring stick. When you let go of the golf ball, it rolls to a new point which means that displacement occurred. For this example, let’s assume that the golf ball moved 3 meters to the left.
This is a very simple situation which doesn’t require a calculation. Since the initial position was at 0 meters and the final position was at 3 meters, this final position also happens to be the value of the displacement.
Still, you can input the values in the displacement formula if you want to perform the calculation yourself. You can also use the same formula for when you have a more complicated situation where you need to solve for the displacement.
What is the formula for displacement?
The thing about displacement is that you can use various equations to solve for it. In the last point, we learned how to solve for displacement in physics. But there is another formula which you must know about:
s=1/2(v+u)t
where:
s refers to the displacement
v refers to the final velocity
u refers to the initial velocity
t refers to the time
When you use different resources, you may have to use variables which are slightly different too. Therefore, you may also use this same formula but with a few modifications:
s=1/2(vf+vi)t
where:
s refers to the displacement
vf refers to the final velocity
vi refers to the initial velocity
t refers to the time
How is motorcycle displacement calculated?
If you have already experienced working on motorcycle engines, you should already know about cubic centimeters or ccs. This is the unit of measurement used to describe the amount of displaced air in the motorcycle’s piston changes for every revolution of the engine.
For ccs, there are two variables to use if you need to determine the value of ccs in a motorcycle engine, namely the stroke and the bore. The stroke refers to the distance the pistons move within the chambers while the bore refers to the size of these chambers. If you need to calculate motorcycle displacement, follow these steps:
- Determine the engine’s bore and stroke
The best place to find these values is in the owner’s manual of your motorcycle. Usually, these values appear in metric measurements. The bore describes the piston cylinder’s diameter while the stroke describes the distance the piston travels from the top of the cylinder head to the bottom. If you can’t find these values in the manual, check the manufacturer’s website. - Multiply the values
The formula for finding the displacement of a motorcycle engine is:value of bore2 x value of stroke x PI / how many cylinders the engine has/1000
Use this formula if all the measurements are in millimeters. If not, you might have to convert them first.
For a lot of people, this formula is quite confusing. So let’s break it down to make it easier for you to understand. Let’s assume that you’ve checked the manual of your motorcycle and discovered that it has a stroke of 70 millimeters and a bore of 60 millimeters.
Let’s further assume that the engine only possesses two cylinders. The first thing to do is to multiply the value of the bore by its same value:60 millimeters x 60 = 3,600
Then multiply this value by the value of the stroke:
3,600 x 70 millimeters = 252,000
Next, multiply this value by the value of PI:
252,000 x 3.1416 = 791,681.436
Now divide this value by how many cylinders your motorcycle engine has. In our example, we assumed that the engine only has two cylinders. Therefore:
791,681.436 / 2 = 395,840.718
Finally, divide this value by 1000:
395,840.718 / 1000 = 395.840718
- Round up the value
Although you may stop there, it’s better for you to round up the number to get the final ccs value. This makes it easier for you to use this value for other purposes. So, for our example, the rounded up value for the displacement would be 396 cc.
