Dimension

Article By:

Barger, Vernon D. Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin.

Last reviewed:December 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.196300

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• Dimensions (mechanics), published January 2020:Download PDF Get Adobe Acrobat Reader

A definable parameter of physical, temporal, or other spaces in fields including physics, mechanics, and mathematics. The concept of a dimension has various contextual meanings depending on the mathematical or scientific field where it is being used. In classical physics and mechanics, for instance, physical space is composed of three spatial dimensions, usually referred to as length, width, and height. These three dimensions comport with everyday human experience of the world and our interactions with the objects within it. A similarly familiar, though non-physical concept, time, is considered to be the fourth dimension. Combining the three spatial dimensions with the fourth dimension of time results in a construct called spacetime, which is fundamental to our understanding of the physical universe as described by the theory of relativity. See also: Classical mechanics; Physics; Relativity; Spacetime

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