• What is scientific experimentation?
• What is scientific experimentation for?
• Characteristics of scientific experimentation
• Types of scientific experimentation
• Examples of scientific experimentation
• The cientific method

We explain what scientific experimentation is, what it is for and its characteristics. Also, the types that there are and some examples.

Scientific experimentation tests hypotheses.

What is scientific experimentation?

Scientific experimentation is the method or methods used by researchers (especially the so-called hard or factual sciences) to test their hypothesis with respect to a phenomenon or object that is being studied.

It is one of the steps of scientific method and is based on the study of certain phenomena observed in nature or in the controlled environment of the laboratory. Experimentation consists of exposing the phenomenon or object being studied to certain variables in order to explain or predict results or causes and consequences.

Experimentation is used by scientists to demonstrate how certain occur natural phenomena of your interest. For that, these phenomena must be replicated in a laboratory, controlling all the variables, in order to demonstrate that a hypothesis is not the product of chance, but of a universal law.

There are complex experiments, which take years of study, and simpler experiments, which allow a quick verification or refutation of the hypothesis. All of them are carried out in sciences such as biology, the math, the chemistry and the physical. For example: the experimentation that is carried out to find the solution to a problem or the experimentation that is carried out to find the cure to a disease.

A scientific experiment will be valid if all the steps of the scientific method are fulfilled. The scientific method is a procedure used in science to objectively and verifiably study a phenomenon, and is made up of certain steps: observation and problem posing, hypothesis formulation, experimentation and analysis data and conclusions. The scientific method emerged in the seventeenth century during the Scientific Revolutions that brought with it the Modern age (called Age of Reason) and was perfected during the nineteenth century to the present day.

Scientific experimentation uses the technology and from different areas of knowledge to achieve the highest degree of control and observation of the phenomena that it replicates, so that it can achieve a deep understanding of what happens in the nature. The result of these experiences can then be published and studied by other scientists, who, if they repeat the experiment, should obtain similar results, since they are verifiable facts and not coincidences.

What is scientific experimentation for?

Experiments can check what is thought of nature.

Experimentation is the main way of testing the hypothetical knowledge of scientists, that is, it is the main method for discerning valid theories from invalid ones. It is extremely important because it is one of the necessary procedures to be able to generate new knowledge in the field of science.

Experimentation is a very important step within the scientific method because it allows testing a hypothesis and verifying if what is believed is valid and occurs in all cases or if, on the contrary, results are produced that do not allow to explain a phenomenon in all cases. In the experimentation, field studies are carried out and, in the event that the hypothesis is not proven, it must be discarded and a new hypothesis must be formulated.

This type of procedure arose with the appearance of the scientific method, which had its development with the Italian physicist and philosopher Galileo Galilei in the 16th / 17th century. In ancient times, science was conducted through reasoning and the logical thinking formal, so that natural phenomena were given an interpretation according to the beliefs of the time.

The possibility of experimenting led to the factual and empirical verification of the phenomena of nature. The English philosopher Francis Bacon was another of the 16th century scientists who sought to put aside the knowledge obtained through deduction to seek empirical tests through experimentation.

The use of experimentation is essential for the independent development of science and technology, because it allows us to understand more and better the functioning of living beings and the world that surrounds them. Experimentation allows the discovery of techniques and processes for the development of various sciences and disciplines, such as medicine, technology, biology, farming, mathematics, archeology, among many others.

Characteristics of scientific experimentation

To be taken into account as true, scientific experimentation must be:

• Verifiable. Other scientists must be able to carry out the same experiment under the same conditions and obtain the same result.
• Methodical No element of the experiment can be left to chance, experimentation is a procedure that must be carried out in an orderly manner and all the variables at stake must be taken into account.
• Objective The opinion or feelings of the scientist or his personal views cannot be taken into account, but there must be a description objective of what happened.
• True. The results of the experiment must be accepted and respected, whether or not they are expected, and in no case can they be falsified.

Types of scientific experimentation

Deterministic experimentation seeks to verify or disprove a hypothesis already made.

There are two types of experimentation according to the purpose pursued:

• Deterministic experimentation. They are those experiments in which the confirmation of a hypothesis is sought, that is, it seeks to demonstrate or refute a previously formulated scientific principle.
• Random experimentation. They are those experiments in which the result to be obtained is unknown, since the experimentation is simply carried out to know what is happening, that is, to expand what is known regarding a specific topic.

Examples of scientific experimentation

Some cases in which scientific experimentation is used are:

• Checking vaccines. Vaccines are preparations that are given to Humans Y animals to build immunity against disease. Before starting to inoculate individuals, vaccines must be verified to be safe and effective in preventing or reducing the risks of disease. For this, the vaccine must be tested by groups of people or animals (depending on the case) to observe the degree of success of the medicine.
• Determination of geological age. To find out how long it has been since certain fossils formed, a scientific experiment is carried out in which the traces of carbon 14 (an isotope of carbon) that remain in the fossil remains are measured. This process is called radiocarbon dating and is widely used in archeology.
• Discovery of pasteurization. Pasteurization is a process in which you undergo a liquid high temperatures to eliminate the pathogens it may contain. This procedure was discovered by the French chemist Louis Pasteur, after a series of experiments in which he sought to produce fermented beverages, such as wine, without altering their taste or properties. His experiments consisted of exposing drinks to different degrees of temperature and checking how one type of chemical was eliminated. yeast That affected the quality of the wine.
• Development of penicillin. Penicillin is an antibiotic made up of a kind of fungus that allows the elimination of bacteria. Penicillin was discovered by the English scientist Alexander Fleming who, returning from vacation, observed how a fungus had acted against a bacterial culture in his laboratory. Based on this, tests and experiments were carried out to isolate the substance that secreted mold, which was the one that acted against bacteria. The Oxford University team worked first in animals and then in humans to test the effects of this substance. Penicillin began to be used in the WWII and it is one of the main components that fights bacterial infections.
• Development of radiology. Radiology is the branch of medicine that uses rays to observe the inside of the body and control its correct functioning. The use that could be given to X-rays was discovered by the German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen when he carried out experiments with rays and found that they passed through a large number of objects and materials.
• Conditioned reflex. The conditioned reflex is the action or effect that occurs in an individual before a certain neutral stimulus. For his discovery, the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov carried out experiments with dogs and noticed that the dogs salivated even when the food was not in front of them, because they had related certain neutral stimuli to the idea of ​​the proximity of the food. Thus, Pavlov introduced a metronome that he played before delivering the food and, after a few days, discovered that the dogs salivated at the sound of the metronome and that they could relate a stimulus, which was initially neutral, with an effect: food.
• Artificial cloning. The cloning artificial is the scientific procedure in which it is sought to create a genetically equal copy of an individual. Under this process tissues can be cloned, single-celled organisms, genes, cells And till mammals oversized, like horses. After years of experimentation, the first mammal was cloned in 1997, which was a sheep named Dolly, which was cloned from an adult cell. From then on, many organisms were cloned using different procedures.
• Poincaré conjecture. Henri Poincaré was a French physicist and mathematician who raised one of the most recognized hypotheses within topology, a branch of mathematics, called the Poincaré conjecture or hypothesis. This hypothesis was raised at the beginning of the 20th century and it dealt with the three-dimensional sphere. For a century researchers could neither verify nor reject the hypothesis, until 2003, when the problem was solved by the Russian mathematician Grigori Perelmán.
• Development of anesthesia. Anesthesia is the substance used to inhibit discomfort or pain in an individual that may be caused by a surgical intervention or other procedure. Throughout history, many substances have been used to cause anesthesia in the body and reduce sensitivity, such as alcohol, opium, chloroform and ether. The first experiments in which gases were used as anesthetics were carried out by researchers in the 19th century. This type of anesthesia evolved to the present day and today various drugs such as propofol, halothane, and ketamine are used, by venous or respiratory route, among others.
• Development of artificial satellites. The artificial satellites They are objects that are launched into Earth's orbit or into the orbit of other celestial bodies. Satellites have different functions, such as telecommunications, the research, the meteorology, among other. The development of satellites began at the beginning of the 20th century and the first satellite sent successfully was Sputnik, launched by the USSR in 1957. From then on, many countries successfully launched satellites with different functions.

The cientific method

Experimentation is one of the steps of the scientific method, a procedure used to generate and test new scientific knowledge and theories.

The steps of the scientific method are:

• Observation. A certain phenomenon or situation is observed and data and information are extracted.
• Posing of problem. There is a possible problem or question to be solved in that which was observed. Questions are raised in this step.
• Proposal of hypotheses. A possible answer is posed to those questions that were obtained from the observation.
• Experimentation. The hypothesis is tested by conducting experimentation.
• Data register. The data obtained after testing the hypothesis are analyzed and recorded.
• Conclusions. The conclusions in which it is taken into account whether or not the hypothesis was proven. In the event that the hypothesis has not been verified, the procedure can be repeated, posing a new hypothesis. In the event that the hypothesis has been proven, the results can be shared and a theory proposed.