Degrees of Freedom (Physics)

Definition (Degrees of Freedom)

The degrees of freedom (DOF) of a physical system is the number of independent parameters required to specify the state of the system. In classical mechanics, this typically corresponds to the number of generalized coordinates needed to describe the configuration of the system. For example, a single particle moving in three-dimensional space has 3 degrees of freedom (its position can be described by three coordinates: $x$, $y$, and $z$).

A rigid body in three-dimensional space has 6 degrees of freedom: 3 for translation (movement along the $x$, $y$, and $z$ axes) and 3 for rotation (orientation around the $x$, $y$, and $z$ axes).