How does an accelerometer measure displacement?

Answer by  Ronaldo91 (345)

By calculating the duration and vector of forces an approximation of location within a space can be described, and the movement in that space can be computed to get displacement.

Answer by  stevenhuynh (86)

If the accelerometer records acceleration as a function of time, a computer can take an integral over time to find out the velocity as a function of time. If the computer takes the integral again over the time, it will find displacement as a function of time. This can't easily be done by hand.