Angular displacement is a concept in physics that describes the angle through which a point or line has been rotated in a specified sense about a specified axis. It is the angle of movement of a body in a circular path and is represented by the Greek letter θ¹².

Definition and Units

Angular displacement is defined as the shortest angle between the initial and final positions of a point or line in a circular motion. It is a vector quantity, meaning it has both magnitude and direction. The direction can be either clockwise or counter-clockwise¹².

The units of angular displacement are radians or degrees. One complete revolution around a circle is equal to 360 degrees or 2π radians¹³.

Measurement

Angular displacement can be measured using the formula:

where:

• θ is the angular displacement,

• s is the distance traveled by the body along the circular path,

• r is the radius of the circle¹².