because of the work of scientists including galilei and newton, we know that "position" is relative. this means that an object's position depends on where it exists in relation to other objects. for example, a ball can be away from a box, from a chair and away from a table. here, the box, chair and the table helped to define the position of the ball. they acted as the reference points for the observation of the ball. by telling someone how far the ball was from other objects, they were told its relative position.