Final answer:
The distortion angle refers to angle strain in chemistry, resulting from deviation from ideal bond angles, while angle of twist, or dihedral angle, refers to the rotational angle between two planes in a structure or angular displacement of an object.
Step-by-step explanation:
Distortion angle typically refers to angle strain in chemistry, which is the strain caused by bending bond angles away from their ideal values, such as the tetrahedral bond angle of 109.5º. This can cause eclipsing strains between atomic pairs, like hydrogen atoms, across neighbouring carbon atoms. The angle of twist, however, is more commonly referred to as the dihedral angle or torsion angle in chemistry or angular displacement in physics. It represents the angle between two planes or the rotational movement around an axis. For example, in a chemical structure, it can be the angle between the planes defined by the atoms bonded to a central carbon atom.
In physics, the angle of twist can refer to the rotation of an object along its length, such as a shaft in engineering, which is related to angular acceleration and angle of rotation. These concepts are important in understanding how forces and movements affect structures and how molecules interact with each other.