Certainly! If we consider a park located 3 km east of a library, choosing the library as the reference point places the park at coordinates (3, 0) in a Cartesian system. However, if a different building nearby were chosen as the reference point, the coordinates of the park would change accordingly, demonstrating how the reference point affects position description.
Can you give an example of how choosing a different reference point can change the description of an object’s position?
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Consider a passenger on a train moving at a constant speed. If the reference point is the train itself, the passenger’s position remains constant since they are not moving relative to the train. However, if the reference point is a stationary platform outside the train, the passenger’s position continuously changes as the train moves. This illustrates how selecting different reference points—the train versus the platform—alters the description of the passenger’s position, highlighting the importance of the reference point in defining motion.