Surroundings are the area around a given physical or geographical

point Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

or place. The exact definition depends on the field. Surroundings can also be used in geography (when it is more precisely known as vicinity, or vicinage) and mathematics, as well as philosophy, with the literal or metaphorically extended definition. In thermodynamics, the term (and its synonym,

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

) is used in a more restricted sense, meaning everything outside the thermodynamic system. Often, the simplifying assumptions are that energy and matter may move freely within the surroundings, and that the surroundings have a uniform composition.

See also