Physical body
In physics, a physical body or physical object (sometimes simply called a body or object) is an identifiable collection of matter, which may be more or less constrained to move together by translation or rotation, in 3-dimensional space.
In common usage an object is a collection of matter within a defined contiguous boundary in 3-dimensional space. The boundary must be defined and identified by the properties of the material. The boundary may change over time. The boundary is usually the visible or tangible surface of the object. The matter in the object is constrained (to a greater or lesser degree) to move as one object. The boundary may move in space relative to other objects that it is not attached to (through translation and rotation). An objects boundary may also deform and change over time in other ways.
Also in common usage an object is not constrained to consist of the same collection of matter. Atoms or parts of an object may change over time. An object is defined by the simplest representation of the boundary consistent with the observations. However the laws of Physics only apply directly to objects that consist of the same collection of matter.
Each object has a unique identity, independent of any other properties. Two objects may be identical, in all properties except position, but still remain distinguishable. In most cases the boundaries of two objects may not overlap at any point in time. The property of identity allows objects to be counted.
Examples of models of physical bodies include, but are not limited to a particle, several interacting smaller bodies (particles or other), and continuous media.
The common conception of physical objects includes that they have extension in the physical world, although there do exist theories of quantum physics and cosmology which may challenge this. In modern physics, "extension" is understood in terms of the spacetime: roughly speaking, it means that for a given moment of time the body has some location in the space, although not necessarily a point. A physical body as a whole is assumed to have such quantitative properties as mass, momentum, electric charge, other conserving quantities, and possibly other quantities.
A body with known composition and described in an adequate physical theory is an example of physical system.
In common usage
An object is known by the application of senses. The properties of an object are inferred by learning and reasoning based on the information perceived. Abstractly, an object is a construction of our mind consistent with the information provided by our senses, using Occam's razor.
In common usage an object is the material inside the boundary of an object, in 3-dimensional space. The boundary of an object is a contiguous surface which may be used to determine what is inside, and what is outside an object. An object is a single piece of material, whose extent is determined by a description based on the properties of the material. An imaginary sphere of granite within a larger block of granite would not be considered an identifiable object, in common usage. A fossilized scull encased in a rock may be considered an object because it is possible to determine the extent of the scull based on the properties of the material.
For a rigid body, the boundary of an object may change over time by continuous translation and rotation. For a deformable body the boundary may also be continuously deformed over time in other ways.
An object has an identity. In general two objects with identical properties other than position at an instance in time may be distinguished as two objects may not occupy the same space at the same time (excluding component objects). An objects identity may be tracked using the continuity of the change in its boundary over time. The identity of objects allows objects to be arranged in sets and counted.
The material in an object may change over time. For example, a rock may wear away or have pieces broken off it. The object will be regarded as the same object after the addition or removal of material, if the system may be more simply described with the continued existence of the object, than in any other way. The addition or removal of material may discontinuously change the boundary of the object. The continuation of the objects identity is then based on the description of the system by continued identify being simpler than without continued identity.
For example, a particular car might have all its wheels changed, and still be regarded as the same car.
The identity of an object may not split. If an object is broken into two pieces at most one of the pieces has the same identity. An objects identity may also be destroyed if the simplest description of the system at a point in time changes from identifying the object to not identifying it. Also an objects identity is created at the first point in time that the simplest model of the system consistent with perception identifies it.
An object may be composed of components. A component is an object completely within the boundary of a containing object.
Classical mechanics
In classical mechanics a physical body is collection of matter having properties including mass, velocity, momentum and energy. The matter exists in a volume of three-dimensional space called its extension.
Under Newtonian gravity the gravitational field further away than the furthest extent of an object is determined only by the mass and the position of the center of mass.
Interactions between objects are partly described by orientation and external shape.
In continuum mechanics an object may be described as a collection of sub objects, down to an infinitesimal division, which interact with each other by forces which may be described internally by pressure and mechanical stress.
Quantum mechanics
In quantum mechanics an object or body is a particle or collection of particles. Until measured, a particle does not have a physical position. A particle is defined by a probability distribution of finding the particle at a particular position. There is a limit to the accuracy with which the position and velocity may be measured. A particle or collection of particles is described by a quantum state.
These ideas vary from the common usage understanding of what an object is. Object/particle identity is shared between common usage and quantum mechanics, although in quantum mechanics some particles may occupy the same position at the same time (e.g. photons).
String theory
In particle physics, there is a debate as to whether some elementary particles are not bodies, but are points without extension in physical space within space-time, or are always extended in at least one dimension of space as in string theory or M theory.
In psychology
In some branches of psychology, depending on school of thought, a physical body is a physical object with physical properties, as compared to mental objects. In (reductionistic) behaviorism, a physical body and its properties are the (only) meaningful objects of study. While in the modern day behavioral psychotherapy it is still only the means for goal oriented behavior modifications, in Body Psychotherapy it is not a means only anymore, but its felt sense is a goal of its own. In cognitive psychology, physical bodies as they occur in biology are studied in order to understand the mind, which may not be a physical body, as in functionalist schools of thought.
In philosophy
A physical body is an enduring object that exists throughout a particular trajectory of space and orientation over a particular duration of time, and which is extended in the world of physical space, e.g. as studied by physics. This contrasts with abstract objects such as mathematical objects which do not exist at any particular time or place. Examples are a cloud, a human body, a weight, a billiard ball, a table, or a proton. This is contrasted with abstract objects such as mental objects, which exist in the mental world, and mathematical objects. Other examples that are not physical bodies are emotions, the concept of "justice", a feeling of hatred, or the number "3". In some philosophies, like the Idealism of George Berkeley, a physical body is a mental object, but still has extension in the space of a visual field.
In new age philosophy, mysticism and religion
In some systems of mysticism, such as theosophy, the physical body is understood as the last of several progressively denser "vehicles of consciousness". In Blavatskyian Theosophy it is called by the Vedantic name sthula sarira – "gross body" – and distinguished from the linga sarira, the "subtle body" or astral double. In C. W. Leadbeater and Alice Bailey, the physical body is distinguished from the etheric body, which serves as its "blueprint", and structures of the etheric body, such as chakras, are mirrored in the main glands and nerve ganglia of the physical body.
In some religions, and in some new age philosophies, a physical body is contrasted with the self, mind, spirit, soul, or astral projection, and sometimes with an heavenly body. It is ephemeral in time, not eternal. It may be what houses the spirit or soul, and it is what is left behind in an astral projection, or ascention into heaven.
Saint Paul wrote: 'there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body' (1 Corinthians 15:44, KJV)
See also
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