Which of the following best explains why displacement is classified as a vector quantity while distance is not?
a) Displacement can be negative, whereas distance must always be positive.
b) Displacement requires choosing an origin in a coordinate system, whereas distance does not, so only displacement is treated as a vector.
c) Displacement accounts for direction relative to a reference point, whereas distance considers only total path length.
d) Displacement is always shorter than (or equal to) the distance traveled, which is why the two are classified differently.