What is Experiment: Definition and 1000 Discussions

An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a particular factor is manipulated. Experiments vary greatly in goal and scale, but always rely on repeatable procedure and logical analysis of the results. There also exists natural experimental studies.
A child may carry out basic experiments to understand how things fall to the ground, while teams of scientists may take years of systematic investigation to advance their understanding of a phenomenon. Experiments and other types of hands-on activities are very important to student learning in the science classroom. Experiments can raise test scores and help a student become more engaged and interested in the material they are learning, especially when used over time. Experiments can vary from personal and informal natural comparisons (e.g. tasting a range of chocolates to find a favorite), to highly controlled (e.g. tests requiring complex apparatus overseen by many scientists that hope to discover information about subatomic particles). Uses of experiments vary considerably between the natural and human sciences.
Experiments typically include controls, which are designed to minimize the effects of variables other than the single independent variable. This increases the reliability of the results, often through a comparison between control measurements and the other measurements. Scientific controls are a part of the scientific method. Ideally, all variables in an experiment are controlled (accounted for by the control measurements) and none are uncontrolled. In such an experiment, if all controls work as expected, it is possible to conclude that the experiment works as intended, and that results are due to the effect of the tested variables.

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  1. Davor Magdic

    B Where does a quantum experiment *begin*?

    Apologies if the question has been asked, I didn't see it in my search but maybe I missed it. I was wondering if there is a formal definition of when/where a quantum experiment begins (as opposed to where it ends, i.e. with the collapse of the wave function), and whether it matters. For...
  2. Newtonfalls

    B Detecting Smartphone Waves Using Toy - VIDEO

    Hi, i came across this video on BBC yesterday: <link to video deleted> Now I wonder how this stuff works in detail? Is it the carrier wave or the multiplexer signal of the phone? best regards
  3. Tareq Naushad

    B How to make the wave collapse in double-slit experiment

    I successfully created the fringe pattern at home with a simple laser light and a black plastic sheet with two thin cut as double-slits. I then used two mobile phone cameras at two sides in hope that the wave function of light will be collapsed. But nothing happened i.e. the fringe remained...
  4. bohm2

    A Does this experiment truly rule out non-local causality?

    Experimental test of nonlocal causality http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/8/e1600162 Quantum mechanics trumps nonlocal causality http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2016/aug/18/quantum-mechanics-trumps-nonlocal-causality Having just read the full paper it seems to that it doesn't...
  5. K

    I Vortex Experiment: Can Vacuums Create a Vortex?

    I set up two canister vacuum cleaners facing each other: I had the idea that if there was some circulation in the air (provided by the small fan) then a vortex would form between the inlets. This does not seem to work. I don't have much knowledge or intuition about aerodynamics. Would this...
  6. Ontophobe

    I Delayed Choice Black Hole Experiment

    What if our quantum eraser was a black hole? There's talk of event horizons preserving all the information that crosses them? Could we test this hypothesis by seeing whether or not black holes make good quantum erasers? Depending on the distance to the black hole - it might be hundreds...
  7. V

    I How Does the T2K Experiment Detect Neutrino Oscillations?

    I am completely unschooled here, so go a bit easy, if you would. My question(s) involves the actual mechanics of the T2K neutrino/antineutrino experiment that was written up here on Aug. 8. I have a hard time understanding the process described here: "To explore the (anti)neutrino flavour...
  8. avito009

    I Did the Michelson Morley Experiment Prove the Existence of Ether?

    By measuring the speed of the light beams through the inferometer michelson morley tried to explain the existence of ether. This was done by measuring light beams's speed. The beams were in different direction. Did they want to say that the beam in the direction of the movement of the Earth...
  9. M

    B Regarding Young's two slit experiment

    regarding Young's two slit experiment 1. HOW can a light source is used to create a single photon that can be directed at 2 slits simultaneously ? I am confused as to how the light source can be aligned with both of the slits simultaneously. IF the light beam is wider than the distance...
  10. N

    B New retrocausality experiment ?

    It seems that this was published last year on IJQF http://www.ijqf.org/wps/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/TooLate.pdf "In the EPR experiment, each measurement addresses the question “What spin value has this particle along this orientation? We propose a new setting where the question is...
  11. C

    I Thought Exp: Light Trapped in Gravity Well of Black Hole

    I am not a physicist but I was curious if there was any information on the following thought experiment. Say a beam of light emitted from a far away star passed a black hole at just the right direction that it became entrapped in a sort of orbit like the moon around the earth. Is this possible...
  12. F

    A Experiment design FTL particle though magnetic field

    Hi. I was browsing Wikipedia on a topic, went to magnetic bearings, etc etc...ended up on synchrotron radiation then the phrase about how a moving or accelerat/ing/ed particle passing through a magnetic field generates electromagnetic radiation. Then I has a revelation. How to get a particle...
  13. M

    Faraday's and Lenz law - Experiment with AC coil and Cu ring

    Hi, can someone explain me the next experiment: If I have an AC coil on iron stick, and if I put Cu ring on that stick concentric with AC coil, when I turn coil power supply, the ring will levitate on some height. My question is: Powered AC coil produces an AC magnetic field. If I put a...
  14. L

    Velocity of a Helium-atom in a double slit experiment

    Homework Statement Hi, I want to apologize for any grammar errors in advance since english is not my first language. But i hope it is good enough such that the question is clear: I want to calculate the velocity of a Helium-atom after it scattered on a double slit. The following information are...
  15. G

    Magnet Experiment: Investigating Force & Distance

    Hello PF! I am about to conduct a physics experiment to write my high school level paper on. I initially was going to investigate the Gaussian Gun, but my physics teacher has said that I need to have real life, practical applications of the model, and to also have a variable I can change and...
  16. Cobalt101

    I Delayed choice two slit experiment - photon

    Is it possible that the reason the delayed choice two slit experiment outcomes occur is because for the photon, traveling at the speed of light, the past, present and future are all as one, and therefore it "knows" what is going to happen and therefore always "makes the right choice" at the...
  17. A

    I The speed of a "photon" in a multipath experiment?

    Let's say here are two ways for a photon to go between point A and B and a detector at B detects photons with some probability based on interference. Mathematically, it's calculated by carrying phases along each path and then adding them up regardless of how much time it takes to travel along...
  18. A

    I Double slit experiment question

    What is detected on the second screen if after a photon went through the slits but before it hits the second screen, the screen with slits is removed (or both slits are closed)?
  19. pBrane

    I Delayed choice - Bohr's experiment with a Camera

    Hi I have some questions and ideas regarding Bohr's double slit experiment which he extended with a Camera as an illustration of delayed choice. I read about it 40 years ago but can't find a reference to it, I'm hoping it wasn't apocryphal but it's consistent with Q-phys as I know it. The...
  20. Simon Peach

    I Double Slit Experiment: Magnification?

    Now I was just reading about the 'double slit' experiment. So photons or electrons, atoms or other sub-atomic particles pasting through a double slit exhibit superposition. Ok got that, I hope, now if there are two double silts behind the first then four behind those two second ones and so on...
  21. A

    A Is this experiment real (double slit)?

    I heard about the following experiment and I'd like to know if it really works this way: Double slit experiment with a detector that gathers information about which slit every particle goes through and stores it in an unobserved black box. The screen is an unobserved photo film that needs to be...
  22. K

    A LUX Dark Matter Experiment Ends With No WIMPs Found

    widely reported in all science channels LUX Dark Matter Experiment Ends With No WIMPs Found what are the ramifications to SUSY QG string theory LQG MSSM dark matter etc based on this results? how likely is dark matter WIMP hypothesis in light of this null result, and of neutralinos Does this...
  23. ElMachoTaco

    I Question about double slit experiment results

    Is one particle detected on the detection screen for each particle shot in a double slit experiment? Or do some particles fail to be detected because they hit the barrier in between the two slits? In other words, is there an exact one to one correspondence of particles shot to particles...
  24. K

    Available materials for Faraday rotation experiment

    I am a high school student experimenting with the Verdet constant of materials and how it affects the polarization of light in magneto-rotation. I have trouble acquiring the proper materials for this experiment. Here is what I have so far: -AC/DC Power Supply -Gaussmeter -Optical laser under...
  25. P

    I How are different potentials implemented experimentally?

    Hi. I'm wondering how different potentials, such as the Dirac-Delta potential, linear potential, quandratic potenial, etc., are implemented experimentally. I only understand how the Schrodinger equation is solved if these are the potentials and I'd like to have a better understanding of quantum...
  26. T

    I Mind Bending Double-Slit Diffraction Thought Experiment

    Hi, I studied undergrad pure maths now post grad philosophy, not quantum physics, but please consider the following experiment: Suppose you set up a double slits experiment with a photon detector attached to each slit, and the photon detector attached to a photon transmitter, so the photon can...
  27. steveJOBS

    B What is the reason for Schrodinger's cat experiment?

    I'm not sure why schrodinger proposed his cat in a box experiment. Can anyone say why?
  28. B

    LeBron James' Verizon science experiment

    In the current Verizon ad featuring LeBron James in a physics lab, there is an instrument displayed prominently in front of each student. What is it?
  29. D

    B Classical experiment violates Bell

    "A unifying principle explaining the numerical bounds of quantum correlations remains elusive, despite the efforts devoted to identifying it. Here, we show that these bounds are indeed not exclusive to quantum theory: for any abstract correlation scenario with compatible measurements, models...
  30. JulienB

    Discussing an experiment (radioactivity, Geiger-counter)

    Homework Statement Hi everybody! My homework this week is to discuss the results we obtained in an experiment last week, which was about determining the gamma-rays absorption coefficient of lead ##\mu## with a Geiger-counter and then read from a graph the gamma photon energy of the radioactive...
  31. D

    Double slit experiment problem

    Homework Statement monochromatic light of 625 nm of wavelength falls normal to the optical bar. Total number of light lines that appear behind the bar is 11. What is the constant of the difraction bar? Homework Equations 3. The Attempt at a Solution [/B] I tried ##dsinx=ms## where ##s## is the...
  32. S

    B I'm conducting an Experiment -- Moving my hand through a wall

    Hey, I would like to showcase my experiment I'm doing. I'm 16, in high school, and the only science I know is chemistry. But that was a default class. I'm learning about Quantum Physics on my free time. and would very much like to become a scientist in that field. To start off this is kind of a...
  33. B

    B Can Instruments Alter Wave Functions Across Global Distances?

    What instrument can affect wave function of object? If wave function doesn't have any locality. Then why can't an instrument here able to access and alter the wave function of any object in the world (and detectable in the other side of the planet)? How do you make such experiments. And what...
  34. B

    Simulating an Experiment for a two state system

    So I am so beyond stuck and my advisor told me that my progress is very slow. I made a post before about how I'm new to coding and everything, but now I kind of have to forget about the "learning" and make progress. Does anyone have tips on understanding the Baum-Welch algorithm...
  35. A

    I Help with Experiment on Batteries

    Hi guys! I am currently having Physics Internal Assessment in my school and I want to do an experiment to calculate the different times it takes for a 9V cell to to discharge (reach a 0.1V) in different temperatures. The problem I am having right now is to efficiently discharge my cell. How can...
  36. W

    Programs Anyone here change from experiment to theory during the PhD?

    I'm a 3rd year graduate student doing atomic physics experiment. I was thinking of changing my group to do theoretical biophysics for a few reasons. Did any experimentalist here change to theory? What was the transition like?
  37. Liam C

    B How does the double slit experiment prove super position?

    I know this question has been asked before but I have only found threads for it at an undergraduate's level of understanding and I am just finishing ninth grade. How does the double slit experiment prove superposition? What led me to ask this question, was that, since when you close one slit the...
  38. victorhugo

    Experiment to simulate the radioactive decay of U-235

    Basic high-school homework. I mostly just want feedback on my answers and advice :) The experiment was to: Drop pins into a box. Pick out the one's upside down and count them and these are the ones that underwent decay. Get the ones that weren't upside down and throw them into the box again...
  39. D

    B Question regarding JJ Thompson's Experiment

    JJ Thompson performed experiment on cathode rays and found out the charge to mass ratio of electron but what led him to conclude that the particle existed INSIDE the atom. Till that time atoms were known to be indivisble but how did he concluded that the particles(electrons) existed inside atoms?
  40. F

    B Question about Michelson-Morley experiment

    Hi, I think I have a good grasp of the principles underlying the Michelson-Morley experiment, but I am not sure about a detail. In basic textbooks a simplified situation is presented whereby the ether wind is along one of the two arms of the interferometer. Simple classical physics calculations...
  41. A

    I A question about two-slits experiment

    hello, I heard that in 2012 someone did an two-slits experiment in which they can detect which slit the photon passes without destroying the interference pattern. Is this news a fact or not ? if it is a fact, anyone could give me the paper to read ? thanks.
  42. john c3na

    B Exploring Vibration: Understanding the Experiment

    How does this experiment relate to vibration? he doesn't explain it well
  43. S

    B Has any experiment actually measured PI to many places?

    Ok, This probably seems a silly question, but has there been any 'serious' attempt to measure Pi PHYSICALLY, like in a lab, using say a light fiber in a circle and one down the radius? If so, where can I find the results/paper? Thanks!
  44. L

    B Double Slit Experiment: Feynman's Lectures

    In the third book of Feymann's Lectures on Physics(section 1-8) he describes how "the Uncertainty Principle protects Quantum Mechanics." The experimental situation is a modified double slit experiment where the two slits are put on rollers in an attempt to detect which slit an electron passes...
  45. Ken Gallock

    B Is it possible to do experiment on the Planck scale?

    Hi. I was wondering if experiments on the Planck length (about 10-35 m) are possible or not. If it is possible, what kind of experiment would that be? If it's not, then what is the problem? Or what is need to be done? Thanks.
  46. J

    B Entangled photons thought experiment

    Following scenario: One million entangled photon pairs are created and are sent to Alice's and Bob's laboratory such that Alice receives 1 million photons(or any other large number) of which each is entangled to one of the million photons Bob receives, their laboratories being at a distance to...
  47. Paul Colby

    What is the cause of the increased B-field in a rotating conductor experiment?

    I saw this and thought it was interesting. If one can get beyond the pretentious music, super annoying robotic narration and ignore the completely off the wall theory discussion there remains a reasonably well documented experiment. The measurement shows the B field about a conducting cylinder...
  48. G

    A Two Black Holes' collision thought experiment

    Once, someone had asked two interesting (though absolutely hypothetical) questions: 1) What should happen during the collision of two BHs, one consisting of matter (BH+) and the other consisting of antimatter (BH-)? Should they form a larger BH or should they be annihilated? My personal...
  49. L

    A Madam Wu's Experiment: Exploring Electron Behaviour in a Magnetic Field

    Why in Madam Wu experiment more electrons are not in direction of magnetic field? See Fig. Why there is not four electrons in the direction of magnetic field and two in oposite direction?
  50. S

    Young's double slit experiment help

    1. The statement, all variables and given/known data Hi I'm doing this experiment where we need to find the wavelength of our laser light source. I am unsure what the variables IV and DV would be and the controlled variables? Also how will I make the graph? I'm in AS level so please don't make...
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