objectsphysical

Objectsphysical is a term used in philosophy, cognitive science, and physics to designate tangible, three-dimensional entities that occupy space and exist with a definite form in the physical world. It is often contrasted with abstract objects (like numbers, sets, or propositions) and with events or processes that occur over time without maintaining a fixed boundary. In everyday language, the phrase corresponds to "physical objects" or "material bodies."

Core characteristics include empirical accessibility, mass and volume, spatial location, and the capacity to participate in physical interactions via forces. They are typically considered to have a persistence over time, even as their properties may change; questions about their identity touch on debates between endurantism and perdurantism and the larger problem of persistence. The boundary between objects and composites is addressed by mereology, including issues such as whether a collection of parts constitutes a single object.

In science, objectsphysical serve as the basic units of analysis for mechanics, thermodynamics, and quantum systems at macroscopic scales, and they form the objects of study in experimental measurement and modeling. In information science and simulations, they are represented as data structures or instances with properties such as mass, charge, and state.

Typical examples include a rock, a chair, a planet, or a drop of water; a living organism is sometimes included depending on how one construes biological components as physical objects.

See also: physical object; substance; mereology; endurantism; perdurantism.