Roger Frost: science, sensors and automation

Category: handling data from experiments

This section is about examining the data that sensors collect from experiments. Understanding the data that sensors provide is surely the reason for bothering to collect it! You can download csv files for all the graphs here to import into Excel or other software. Do use the topics/ keywords to find what you need.

handling data from experiments

data on the planets

Datasets (files) like the one below are useful in science. There is data to analyse by drawing graphs. The file below is in a ‘CSV’ format. Open it in your spreadsheet or Datalogging Insight program...

handling data from experiments

tip for graphing with Excel

Sometimes you need to graph several variables one after the other – for example, in this weather database, we plotted the daily maximum temperature against time. For clarity, we plotted just 10 days.Next we...

handling data from experiments

data on the periodic table

Datasets (files) like the one below are useful in science. There is data to analyse by drawing graphs. The file below is in a ‘CSV’ format. Open it in your spreadsheet or Datalogging Insight program...

handling data from experiments

data on breakfast cereals

Datasets (files) like the one below are useful in science. They have data to analyse by drawing graphs. The file below is in a ‘CSV’ format. Open this one in your spreadsheet or Datalogging Insight...

handling data from experiments

freezing a bun or bread roll

We scientists do the strangest of things. We wanted to see the temperature changes when you freeze and thaw things. So we took a ‘bun’ (a bread roll), placed temperature sensors in and around...

handling data from experiments

heating ice

You would think that when you heat up ice that it gets warmer bit by bit. And maybe that the more you heat it the hotter it gets. Well it’s not like that. We...

handling data from experiments

a cooling curve

I expect that when something cools, it will get cooler in a plodding kind of way. That’s true, but when something changes state, the cooling is not so steady.The graph below shows how liquid...

handling data from experiments

keep the house warm

We need to keep our homes warm in cold weather. We also need to do this as economically as possible. There are several ways to insulate your home and keep the heat in, and...

handling data from experiments

checking a TV remote controller

An infrared remote control unit sends messages, using infrared ‘light’ to recorders and televisions. Point a remote controller at a light sensor and it may be able to pick up the signal. This likely works...

handling data from experiments

pH data on souring milk

The label on my milk bottle tells me how long the milk will ‘last’ at different temperatures. What do they measure to make this assessment? Is it the pH? I summoned patience, collected a glass...

handling data from experiments

lots of graphs and results

Here are screenshots from experiments we’ve tried over the years. You may find a worksheet for the experiment by searching for the topic or by trawling here. You can download the files for many of...

handling data from experiments

about the ‘sid’ file format

Q. What is SID? A. It’s a standard file format that every data logging manufacturer is encouraged to support. The results of data logging experiments can be better shared in the ‘SID’ format. This...