what is difference between a website and a web application?

A website is typically available to the public and contains information, images, documents and links. A web application is interactive software that runs within the framework of the website. For example, Google is a website. Searching on Google however is a web application, or mapping on Google is a web application.

Web applications are often linked to databases to capture or display data via a webpage. The key is that the applications can run in a web browser, preferably without installing any other software, and preferably without having to modify firewall or security settings to run.