Laboratory frame of reference

In physics, the laboratory frame of reference, or lab frame for short, is a frame of reference centered on the laboratory in which the experiment (either real or thought experiment) is done. This is the reference frame in which the laboratory is at rest. Also, this is usually the frame of reference in which measurements are made, since they are presumed (unless stated otherwise) to be made by laboratory instruments. An example of instruments in a lab frame, would be the particle detectors at the detection facility of a particle accelerator.

See also

• Center-of-mass frame
• Stationary Reference Frame
• Terrestrial reference frame
• Inertial frame of reference
• Equivalence principle