Reference Frame

At 7.20 pm the blast lit up the night sky with hot lava spurting from the crater of the volcano. My heart missed a beat as rivers of hot molten lava seeped down the slopes destroying almost everything in its path. Mount Eleon suddenly rumbled back to life after 6000-year dormancy period. Horrifying screams were heard from all directions as tens of thousands of people ran through heavy ash as fast as their legs could carry them. For miles around blankets of hot ash piled up on the fields and buildings that were dotted around the slopes of the mountain. By midnight the eruption was over. Motion is threatening: has the ability to tap into your deepest fears.

On 17th March 1996, all the faces bore the same expression of excitement and enthusiasm as the match came to an end. The historic achievement of "Lankan Lions" parading the prized possession around the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore will be etched on my memory as long as my brain is in motion with each heartbeat. It's no surprise that celebrations broke out spontaneously throughout the island. People poured out of their homes and cheered for their team by dancing and honking. Not all of the excitement was man-made. The heavens opened up and the rain poured down at the elation of victory. Motion is beautiful: has the ability to create incredible moments in history.

Motion is challenging for a hungry soul aspiring to become a global brand. Motion plants seeds of hope in those lands dotted with mighty rivers and dense forests to free its inhabitants from the grip of all the odious apparatus of the servants of evil. Motion in parliament builds an intense interest in looking at the creation and amendment of laws as well as examining the national and international issues.

It turns out that everything that happens in the universe involves some type of motion. Motion is fundamental to our human existence. We need motion for growing, for teaching, for living a healthy life and for surviving setbacks that threaten to dampen our spirits. Motion plays a key role in the regulation of body temperature, blood circulation, digestion and maintaining chemical concentrations. For animals, the ability to move is essential for hunting and to develop surviving skills.

Empowering questions about motion have led the brilliant minds in science to discover the breakthroughs and innovations that deliver progress and improve the human condition. From the invention of tools made for hunting to advances in satellite communications and medicine, mastery of motion has been critical in climbing the evolutionary ladder efficiently and effectively.

The study of motion without regard to its causes is called kinematics. Motion - though found everywhere: in the planets, in the vibrations of atoms and molecules, in the stock market, in the therapy for cancer and diabetes - not until 1680s historians have been able to shed light on the mysterious question: what is motion? We shall discover that:

Motion is when a body changes its position continuously with respect to some reference point in a given interval of time.

Position, Reference Point and Reference Frame

In order to achieve precision in the description of motion of an object, you must first be able to describe its position - where it is in an environment at any particular time. You need to specify its position relative to a convenient reference frame. A frame of reference or reference frame is a reference point combined with an abstract coordinate system.

Read the following dialogue to locate the position of the mall at One Galle Face.

It is very clear from the dialogue that a suitable reference point and a coordinate system are required to define the location of the mall precisely. Hotel Taj is the reference point and 0.3 km west is the coordinate system chosen by Maya.

A reference point acts as the origin for a coordinate system. The coordinate system can be up or down, right or left, in front of or behind, inside or outside or even forward or backward.

Understanding motion requires exploration of nature. You've undoubtedly read stories of treasure hunt that deliver thrills, perhaps danger, but often with a sense that things will work out happily in the end. The figure below shows another example to determine the position of a treasure chest.

Check your understanding

Questions

1. Red - hot lava spewed from a volcano near the Philippine Capital of Manila as tens of thousands of people fled through heavy ash. In this case, the lava appears to be moving relative to what reference point?

2. A ball is dropped from a tower. From whose reference point is the ball leaving the observer?

3. Due to a flight delay, John agreed to meet Sam at the hotel bar before heading to a restaurant in Bartlesville. What is the reference point in this scenario?

Answers

1. The volcano

2. A person standing on the top of a tower.

3. Hotel bar

Jolly Old Santa

It's Christmas again! This time of year when the hills are covered with snow; what could be better than to watch our plump, jolly old Santa soaring over the rooftops in a flying sleigh, delivering magical gifts to kids.

Well, this legendary character and a magical gift bringer is undoubtedly in motion with respect to a tree illustrated in the image below.

Motion of an object is perceived in relation to an environment. The environment acts as a reference frame. The most commonly used frame of reference is Earth and we often attach a family of coordinate system to a stationary body that serves to describe the position of an object relative to the stationary body in a particular reference frame. For example, Santa's position could be described in terms of where he is in relation to the snow covered pine tree.

What happens if your reference frame is not stationary but is in motion relative to the Earth? To address this question, consider a situation where you're seated in a parked car in a parking lot. The car next to you begins to exit the parking space. For a moment you feel like your car is rolling backwards when it really isn't. This is because your brain subconsciously uses the vehicle next to you as a reference point. When the car next to you moves forward, your brain sees its reference point moving forward which means you are rolling backwards.

A further aspect of a frame of reference is when the two observers in the same location constitute a distinct reference frame. In this context, an object may appear to be moving to one person and the same object may appear to be at rest to another person. An example would be a car travelling along a road.

Activity

A social frame of reference tells stories of great leaders who by bitter experiences had learned that sharp criticisms and rebukes almost invariably end in futility. Write an article that illustrates the story of a leader who operated from his own frame of reference to become so diplomatic and adroit at handling people.

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