Scientific demonstration

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Scientific demonstration

A scientific demonstration is a scientific experiment carried out for the purposes of demonstrating scientific principles, rather than for hypothesis testing or knowledge gathering (although they may originally have been carried out for these purposes).

Many scientific demonstrations are chosen for their combination of educational merit and entertainment value, which is often provided by dramatic phenomena such as explosions.

Some famous scientific demonstrations include:

Note: many scientific demonstrations are potentially dangerous, and should not be attempted without considerable laboratory experience and appropriate safety precautions.

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Al-Biruni's reaction time
Reaction time

Reaction time is the elapsed time between the presentation of a sensory stimulus and the subsequent behavioral response. RT is often used in experimental psychology to measure the duration of mental operations, an area of research known as mental chronometry....
Alhazen's camera obscura
Camera obscura

The camera obscura is an optical device used, for example, in drawing or for entertainment. It is one of the inventions leading to photography....
, lamp
Oil lamp

An oil lamp is a simple vessel used to produce light continuously for a period of time from a fuel source. The use of oil lamps extends from prehistory to the present day....
experiment and magnifying lens
Al-Jazari
Al-Jazari

Abu al-'Iz Ibn Isma'il ibn al-Razaz al-Jazari was an important Arab Ulema, Inventions in the Muslim world, Timeline of Muslim scientists and engineers, Artisan, Islamic art and Islamic astronomy from Al-Jazira, Mesopotamia who lived during the Islamic Golden Age ....
's crankshaft
Crankshaft

The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank , is the part of an engine which translates reciprocation linear piston motion into rotation....
, elephant clock
Elephant clock

The elephant clock was a Inventions in the Muslim world by al-Jazari , consisting of a weight powered water clock in the form of an elephant. The various elements of the clock are in the housing on top of the elephant....
and programmable robot
Robot

A robot is a virtual or mechanical artificial agent. In practice, it is usually an Electromechanics which, by its appearance or movements, conveys a sense that it has Intention or Agency of its own....
s
Avenzoar
Ibn Zuhr

Abu Merwan ?Abdal-Malik ibn Zuhr was an Arab Islamic medicine, Parasitology, Ulema, and teacher....
's parasites
Detonating
Detonation

Detonation is a process of combustion in which a supersonic shock wave is propagated through a fluid due to an energy release in a reaction zone....
a cloud of flour
Flour

Flour is a powder made of cereal grains. It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many civilizations, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history....
Foucault's pendulum
Foucault's Pendulum

Foucault's Pendulum is a novel by Italy novelist and philosopher Umberto Eco. It was first published in 1988; the translation into English by William Weaver appeared a year later....
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei was a Grand Duchy of Tuscany physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution....
's ball experiments, pendulum
Pendulum

A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so it can swing freely.When a pendulum is displaced from its resting Mechanical equilibrium, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position....
and telescope
Telescope

A telescope is an instrument designed for the observation of remote objects by the collection of electromagnetic radiation. The first known practically functioning telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 17th century....
Heron's fountain
Heron's fountain

Heron's fountain is a hydraulic machine invented by the first century inventor, mathematician, and physicist Heron, also known as Hero of Alexandria....
and aeolipile
Aeolipile

An aeolipile , a rocket engine style jet engine invented in the first century by Hero of Alexandria, is considered to be the first recorded steam engine or reaction steam turbine....
Ibn al-Nafis' pulmonary circulation
Pulmonary circulation

Pulmonary circulation is the portion of the cardiovascular system which carries oxygen-depleted blood away from the heart, to the lungs, and returns oxygenated blood back to the heart....
and coronary circulation
Coronary circulation

Coronary circulation is the circulation of blood in the blood vessels of the heart muscle. Although blood fills the chambers of the heart, the muscle tissue of the heart is so thick that it requires coronary blood vessels to deliver blood deep into it....
Gyroscopic
Gyroscope

A gyroscope is a device for measuring or maintaining orientation , based on the principles of angular momentum. The device is a spinning wheel or disk whose axle is free to take any orientation....
bicycle wheel
Bicycle wheel

A bicycle wheel is a wheel, most commonly a Wire wheels, designed for a bicycle. A pair is often called a wheelset, especially in the context of ready built "off the shelf" performance-oriented wheels....
Prince Rupert's Drop
Prince Rupert's Drop

File:Prince Ruperts drops.jpgPrince Rupert's Drops are a glass curiosity created by dripping hot molten glass into cold water. The glass cools into a tadpole-shaped Drop with a long, thin, tail....
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Shooting a candle
Candle

A candle is a source of light, and sometimes a source of heat, consisting of a solid block of fuel and an embedded candle wick.Today, most candles are made from paraffin....
through a plank
Plank

A plank is a long, thick, flat piece of lumber.Plank may also refer to:*Gangplank, board used as a temporary footbridge between a ship and a dockside...
Taqi al-Din
Taqi al-Din

Taqi al-Din Muhammad ibn Ma'ruf al-Shami al-Asadi was a major Ottoman Turks or Arab Muslim polymath: a Islamic science, Islamic astronomy and Islamic astrology, Timeline of Muslim scientists and engineers and Inventions in the Muslim world, clockmaker and watchmaker, Islamic physics and Islamic mathematics, Muslim Agricultural Revolution, I...
's alarm clock
Alarm clock

File:Clock radio.jpgAn alarm clock is a clock that is designed to make a loud sound at a specific date and/or time. The primary use of these clocks is to Awake people from their sleep in order to start their days in the mornings, but they are sometimes used for other reminders as well....
, steam turbine
Steam turbine

A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1884....
Using a linear motor
Linear motor

A linear motor or linear induction motor is essentially a multi-phase alternating current electric motor that has had its stator "unrolled" so that instead of producing a torque it produces a linear force along its length....
as a gun
Using compressed air to drive a water rocket
Water rocket

A 'water rocket' is a type of model rocket using water as its reaction mass. The pressure vessel—the engine of the rocket—is usually a used plastic soft drink bottle....
Using liquid nitrogen
Liquid nitrogen

Liquid nitrogen is a liquefied atmospheric gas produced industrially in large quantities by fractional distillation of liquid air. It is pure nitrogen in a liquid state at very low temperature....
to shatter a rose
William Harvey
William Harvey

William Harvey was an English physician who was the first in the Western world to describe correctly and in exact detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped around the body by the heart....
's circulatory system
Circulatory system

The circulatory system is an organ that moves nutrients, gases, and wastes to and from cells to help fight diseases and help stabilize body temperature and pH to maintain homeostasis....

Note: many scientific demonstrations are potentially dangerous, and should not be attempted without considerable laboratory experience and appropriate safety precautions. Many older well-known scientific demonstrations, once mainstays of science education, are now effectively impossible to demonstrate to an audience without breaking health and safety laws. Some older demonstrations, such as allowing the audience to play with liquid mercury, are sufficiently dangerous that they should not be attempted by anyone under any circumstances.