The magnitude of displace of time is the shortest distance (which is a straight line) between the initial and final positions of the particle.

The total path length of a particle is the actual path length covered by the particle in a given interval of time.

For example, suppose a particle moves from point $A$ to point $B$ and then, comes back to a point. Ctaking a total time (q. as shown below. Then, the megnitude of displacement

of the particle $=A C$

Whereas, total path length = $A B+B C$

pnote that the magnitude of displacement can never be greater than the total path length. However, in some cases, both quantities are equal to each other.

(b) Magnitude of average velocity = Magnitude of displacement/Time interval

For the given particle.

Average velocity $=A C / t$ Average speed = Total path length/Time interval $=(A B+BC) / t$

since, $(A B+B C) > A C$ average speedis greater than the magnitude of average velocity. The two quantities will be equalif the particle continues to move along a straight