Alexander Graham Bell

Francheska Torres

STW

3 October 2014

Section K

Alexander Graham Bell

The scientific method is a process which consists of six steps: ask a question, do background research, construct a hypothesis, test the hypothesis by conducting an experiment, analyze the data collected from the experiment, draw a conclusion, and communicate the result. The first step of the scientific method is asking a question that can be answered through research and experimentation. After asking a researchable question, one must conduct research in order to form a hypothesis concerning the question. Once you have done your research and created a hypothesis, you must test your hypothesis through experimentation. Your experiments must be written down clearly so they are easily replicable. After all your experimentation is done you must analyze all of the results and come up with a conclusion. Finally, you must communicate your results. This may be done in a variety of ways, from formal publishing to a blog post. Most great scientific discoveries have been made through the use of the scientific method.

In his article “Simple Experiments”(Bell, April 1912), Bell discusses two experiments involving candles and the fact that they burn even when in water. A candle, when put into water, will float on its side like a piece of wood, but by pushing pins into the bottom, it will float upright. With only a small part of the wick above water, the candle is lit and its effects are observed. The candle continues floating and burning, until nothing remains but a small piece of the candle with the pins sticking out below. One might think that the reason candles float when burning in water is because they become lighter as thy burn. That, however, is not the reason for the candle’s continuous flotation. When the experiment is conducted with a candle that will definitely sink, the results are the same as those of the original experiment. Even though both types of candles have constant loads, they grow heavier because they lose buoyancy as they burn. Why, then, do these candles float?

In his first experiment, Bell did not explicitly follow the scientific method. He took observations from his first experiment and derived two testable questions from these observations. Bell performed a second experiment to answer the questions: Does a burning candle become heavier rather than lighter as it burns? If so, why doesn’t the candle sink? After analyzing his results, Bell drew a conclusion when he said “The true explanation of the flotation of the candle is very easily reached by any intelligent person who will take the trouble to make the experiment himself and carefully exercise his powers of observation; but the problem is not so easily solved by merely reading about the experiment without trying it.” Bell communicated the fact that he had a result through the publishing of the article, but did not share his exact result in an attempt to encourage others to recreate his experiments.