reference frame

American  

noun

Physics.

1. frame of reference.

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reference frame Scientific  

/ rĕf′ər-əns /

1. A basis of a four-dimensional coordinate system in which the first coordinate is understood as a time coordinate, while the other three coordinates represent spatial dimensions. Inertial frames and non-inertial frames are both examples of reference frames.

2. Also called frame of reference

3. See also General Relativity space-time Special Relativity

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Etymology

Origin of reference frame

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

In the electron's reference frame, the laser intensity appeared to be about 50% of the Schwinger limit, triggering nonlinear QED phenomena.

From Science Daily • Nov. 25, 2024

However, the notion of continental groupings as a meaningful reference frame for understanding human biological variation persisted.

From Scientific American • Dec. 22, 2022

An observer in a particular reference frame can describe the motion of an object using such quantities as position, displacement, distance, velocity, speed, and acceleration.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

Finally, when the car goes around a turn, which is due to an acceleration changing the direction of the velocity vector, it is not an inertial reference frame.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

At the proper instant I shifted again, to the reference frame of this Galaxy itself.

From Upstarts by Dillon, Leo