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In common usage and classical mechanics, a physical object or physical body is a collection of matter within a defined contiguous boundary in three-dimensional space. The boundary must be defined and identified by the properties of the material. The boundary may change over time. The boundary is usually the visible or tangible surface of the object. The matter in the object is constrained to move as one object. The boundary may move in space relative to other objects that it is not attached to. An object's boundary may also deform and change over time in other ways.
Also in common usage, an object is not constrained to consist of the same collection of matter. Atoms or parts of an object may change over time. An object usually meant to be defined by the simplest representation of the boundary consistent with the observations. However the laws of physics only apply directly to objects that consist of the same collection of matter.
In physics, an object is an identifiable collection of matter, which may be constrained by an identifiable boundary, and may move as a unit by translation or rotation, in 3-dimensional space.
Each object has a unique identity, independent of any other properties. Two objects may be identical, in all properties except position, but still remain distinguishable. In most cases the boundaries of two objects may not overlap at any point in time. The property of identity allows objects to be counted.