This is a list of notable experiments in physics. The list includes only experiments with Wikipedia articles. For hypothetical experiments, see thought experiment.
Historical experiments +Date of startExperimentAttributionTypeAbout1586Delft tower experimentSimon Stevin and Jan Cornets de GrootDemonstrationSame mass objects fall at the same speed on Earth1643Torricelli's experimentEvangelista TorricelliDemonstrationVacuum relation to atmospheric pressure1654Magdeburg hemispheresOtto von GuerickeDemonstrationAtmospheric pressure1675Rømer's determination of the speed of lightOle RømerMeasurementSpeed of light1747's Gravesande's ringWillem 's GravesandeDemonstrationThermal expansion1752Kite experimentThomas-François Dalibard/Benjamin FranklinInvestigationLightning1774Schiehallion experimentNevil MaskelyneMeasurementVertical deflection, Earth density1790Pictet's experimentMarc-Auguste PictetDemonstrationThermal radiation1797Cavendish experimentHenry CavendishMeasurementGravitational constant1799Voltaic pileAlessandro VoltaDemonstrationFirst electric battery1803Young's interference experimentThomas YoungConfirmationWave theory of light1804Leslie cubeJohn LeslieDiscoveryEmissivity of surfaces1819Arago spot experimentFrançois AragoConfirmationFresnel diffraction due to circular object1838Bedford Level experimentSamuel RowbothamMeasurementCurvature of the Earth1843Faraday's ice pail experimentMichael FaradayDemonstrationElectromagnetic induction1850Foucault's measurements of the speed of lightLéon FoucaultMeasurementSpeed of light1851Fizeau experimentHippolyte FizeauMeasurementSpeed of light1851Foucault pendulumLéon FoucaultDemonstrationEarth's rotation1852Foucault's gyroscopeLéon FoucaultDemonstrationEarth's rotation1867Kelvin water dropperLord Kelvin (William Thomson)DemonstrationElectrostatic generator1867Tyndall's bar breakerJohn TyndallDemonstrationThermal expansion forces1885Eötvös experimentLoránd EötvösMeasurementRatio between inertial and gravitational mass1887Michelson–Morley experimentAlbert A. Michelson and Edward W. MorleyNegative resultLuminiferous aether1897Thomson experimentJ. J. ThomsonDiscoveryElectron1901Trouton–Noble experimentFrederick Thomas Trouton and H. R. Noble.Negative resultLuminiferous aether1901Kaufmann–Bucherer–Neumann experimentsWalter Kaufmann, Alfred Bucherer, and othersInvestigationDependence of the inertial mass of a charge and its velocity1905Rubens tubeHeinrich RubensDemonstrationStanding wave1908Geiger–Marsden experimentsHans Geiger, Ernest Marsden, Ernest Rutherford DiscoveryAtomic nucleus1909Oil drop experimentRobert A. Millikan and Harvey FletcherMeasurementElementary charge of the electron1913Compton generatorArthur ComptonDemonstrationEarth's rotation1914Franck–Hertz experimentJames Franck and Gustav HertzConfirmationBohr model1914Blondel's experimentsAndré BlondelInvestigationElectromagnetic induction1915Einstein–de Haas experimentAlbert Einstein and Wander Johannes de HaasInvestigationElectron magnetic moment1919Eddington experimentArthur EddingtonConfirmationGeneral relativity1922Stern–Gerlach experimentOtto Stern and Walther GerlachConfirmationAngular momentum quantization1923Davisson–Germer experimentClinton Davisson and Lester Germer ConfirmationDe Broglie hypothesis1924Bothe–Geiger coincidence experimentWalther Bothe and Hans GeigerConfirmationCompton effect / conservation of energy1925Michelson–Gale–Pearson experimentAlbert A. Michelson and Henry G. GaleMeasurementEarth's rotation1929Rüchardt experimentEduard RüchardtMeasurementHeat capacity ratio1932Kennedy–Thorndike experimentRoy J. Kennedy and Edward M. ThorndikeConfirmationInertial frame invariance of speed of light1938Ives–Stilwell experimentHerbert E. Ives and G. R. StilwellConfirmationRelativistic Doppler shift1942Chicago Pile-1Enrico FermiDemonstrationFirst self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction 1945TrinityManhattan ProjectDemonstrationFirst nuclear weapon detonation1947Lamb–Retherford experimentWillis Lamb and Robert Retherford DiscoveryLamb shift/Vacuum energy1956Wu experimentChien-Shiung WuConfirmationParity violation1956Cowan–Reines neutrino experimentClyde Cowan and Frederick ReinesConfirmationExistence of neutrino1957Goldhaber experimentMaurice GoldhaberConfirmationNeutrino helicity1958Hughes–Drever experimentGiuseppe Cocconi and Edwin Ernest SalpeterConfirmationLorentz covariance1959Pound–Rebka experimentRobert Pound and Glen A. Rebka Jr.ConfirmationGravitational redshift1964Discovery of cosmic microwave background radiationArno Allan Penzias and Robert Woodrow WilsonDiscoveryCosmic microwave background1965Homestake experimentRaymond Davis Jr. and John N. Bahcall MeasurementCount solar neutrinos/solar neutrino problem1970GargamelleCERNDiscoveryNeutral currents1976Gravity Probe ANASAMeasurementGravitational time dilation1977De Sitter double star experimentKenneth BrecherNegative resultde Sitter effect1980Aspect's experimentAlain AspectConfirmationViolation of Bell's inequalities1981UA1 and UA2 experimentsCERNDiscoveryW and Z bosons1992DØ experimentCERNMultipleTop quark 1998Delayed-choice quantum eraserMarlan ScullyDemonstrationDelayed-choice (quantum mechanics)2004Gravity Probe BNASA/Stanford UniversityConfirmationFrame-dragging2012Search for the Higgs bosonCERNConfirmationHiggs boson2015First observation of gravitational wavesLIGOConfirmationGravitational waves
Articles on several experiments
Bell tests BICEP and Keck Array Coincidence method Discovery of the neutron Large Hadron Collider experiments List of Super Proton Synchrotron experiments Precision tests of QED Tests of special relativity Tests of relativistic energy and momentum Modern searches for Lorentz violation Measurements of neutrino speed
Tests of general relativity Experimental testing of time dilation
On-going experiments Collider Detector at Fermilab China Dark Matter Experiment Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass Experiment General antiparticle spectrometer GlueX The E and B Experiment VIP2 experiment VITO experiment
See also
List of accelerators in particle physics