What is "frame of reference"

Frame of reference \Frame of reference\, n.

1. an arbitrary set of spatial coordinates used to describe the position or motion of objects. The coordinates may be fixed or moving; as, a rotating frame of reference.

2. a set of assumptions or conditions that are used to discuss or understand something; as, a religious frame of reference.

n. 1 a set of assumptions, ideas and standards that form a viewpoint from which philosophical, religious and other ideas may be evaluated 2 (context physics English) a set of axes which enable an observer to measure the position and motion of all bodies in some system relative to the reference frame

1. n. a system that uses coordinates to establish position [syn: coordinate system, reference system, reference frame]

2. a system of assumptions and standards that sanction behavior and give it meaning

In physics, a frame of reference (or reference frame) consists of an abstract coordinate system and the set of physical reference points that uniquely fix (locate and orient) the coordinate system and standardize measurements.

In n dimensions, n+1 reference points are sufficient to fully define a reference frame. Using rectangular (Cartesian) coordinates, a reference frame may be defined with a reference point at the origin and a reference point at one unit distance along each of the n coordinate axes.

In Einsteinian relativity, reference frames are used to specify the relationship between a moving observer and the phenomenon or phenomena under observation. In this context, the phrase often becomes "observational frame of reference" (or "observational reference frame"), which implies that the observer is at rest in the frame, although not necessarily located at its origin. A relativistic reference frame includes (or implies) the coordinate time, which does not correspond across different frames moving relatively to each other. The situation thus differs from Galilean relativity, where all possible coordinate times are essentially equivalent.