Hello i want to know what exactly differs from bitcoin address (starts with 1 ) and the other named public key, i thought both were same, but i noticed bitcoin address is a little shorter.
They are not the same thing, not only because bitcoin addresses are shorter, they also start with different characters.
Legacy address starts with 1. Example below.1Kpii5bg4GEb4sMCEQvT9T3UYUcYibfq9L
Public keys generally starts with 02 or 03. Example below02bfdb40f05ba4b6b781d8ed0aad09070087f9667d8fde5ba3ad3275defe630a7c
030b91d17242b1e542b218e5d32296ea6f663fc181ab3cebc0c2849869e4eba97c
Just in summaryBitcoin address is generated from public key
You need digital signature and public key to spend bitcoin while using address which is the best way for privacy
You can send bitcoin to a public key (not recommended)
If bitcoin sent to public key, you only need digital signature to spend it
Bitcoin address can be tracked on blockchain
Public key can also be used to track bitcoin transactions
Using address is better because the public key is not exposed.
If they aren't same so why private key QR scanning generate its corresponding public key ( the one starts with 1 ) ?
It is because they are both derived from the same private key. Addresses are generated from public keys through
Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm simple hashing and appending checksums.