Explain path length.

(N/A) Consider the motion of a car along a straight line.
Let the origin of the axis be the point from where the car started moving,i.e.,the car was at $x=0$ at $t=0$. Let $P, Q,$ and $R$ represent the positions of the car at different instants of time.
Consider two cases of motion:
Case $1$: The car moves from $O$ to $P$. The distance moved by the car is $OP = 360 \ m$.
This distance is called the path length.
Case $2$: The car moves from $O$ to $P$ and then moves back from $P$ to $Q$. During this course of motion,the path length traversed is $OP + PQ = 360 \ m + 120 \ m = 480 \ m$.
Path length is a scalar quantity,which means it has magnitude only and no direction.