What is Phenomena: Definition and 166 Discussions

A phenomenon (Greek: φαινόμενον, romanized: phainómenon, lit. 'thing appearing to view'; plural phenomena) is an observable fact or event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which cannot be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in this part of his philosophy, in which phenomenon and noumenon serve as interrelated technical terms. Far predating this, the ancient Greek Pyrrhonist philosopher Sextus Empiricus also used phenomenon and noumenon as interrelated technical terms.

View More On Wikipedia.org
Recent contents Top users
  1. V

    Can someone identify these phenomena?

    These videos were recorded at Angicos, a small town of Brazil. They are records of the same phenomenon. Can someone identify it? A tornado? A gustnado? A dust evil? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwmngFGhGqQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_LQ0aevpZk...
  2. S

    What causes quantum coherence in superconductivity and superfluidity?

    I have a question about quantum coherence phenomena. I understand (basically) how laser light results from light waves that are in sync. I also see how ferromagnetism results from orderly alignment of electron spin amongst iron atoms (though I've posted in another thread asking whether this is a...
  3. mrspeedybob

    Is the conservation of energy a statistical phenomena?

    Suppose you build a heat engine. On one side you have a hot body, on the other side you have a cold body. Between the 2 you have the heat engine but on a parallel path you have a simple heat conductor. What will happen is that some of the heat will travel through and power the heat engine...
  4. N

    What Really Grinds my Gear about the Dark Phenomena.

    Physics is unable to explain the acceleration of the universe and the law of gravity isn't as accurate and obsolete as they thought it was.. How do we react? Invent dark energy and dark matter to take care of the non-accurateness of our knowledge. It is very easy to adjust a formula by adding...
  5. P

    Very important unnamed phenomena.

    In particle physics if you take a "elementary particle" and collide it with another specific elementary particle it produces a set of elementary particles, but if you take those same two particles and increase their speed or the amount of energy behind them they become productive and produce...
  6. A

    Light Phenomena: Reasons Explained

    The following are some very basic commonly observed phenomena of light. I need the reasoning of the statements with as much detail as possible. 1. The sky appears blue. 2. Clouds appear white.(why don't they scatter light?) 3. The sky appears reddish during sunset or sunrise. 4. The sun...
  7. K

    Is LHC pushing the limits of naturally observable phenomena in the Universe?

    Are collisions with the energy levels of LHC happening in our modern day Universe? Like at the core of stars or at the event horizon of black holes where a lot of high energy stuff is going on? Sorry for the naive question, I'm extremely interested in physics but I'm just not proficient...
  8. P

    Why are critical phenomena important in physics?

    As someone who has studied little about this subject, I'm posting a naive question. Given that most natural phenomena occurs far away from phase transition, why are people so interested in the tiny region around phase transition? Why are critical phenomena considered so important and...
  9. T

    Phenomena of reflection of light

    I wonder why is there a gap at the starting of the reflected light when i conduct this experiment? Can anybody explain this to me? Thanks!
  10. A

    Transport phenomena - shell balance

    Homework Statement Use a shell balance method to derive the equation governing the two dimensional temperature distribution,u, in a circular disk in polar coordinate system(r,theta). allow for the possibility of differing thermal conductivities in the r and theta directions. Homework...
  11. Z

    What is the nature of the supernatural phenomena

    What does modern science particularly theoretical physics say about witchcraft ?
  12. J

    Phenomena where it appears to one that they encountered same situation previously

    Some days ago they were playing a movie the plot of which was mainly centered on the phenomena where it appears to one that they have encountered the same situation, state of events previously in their past life. Then, I just watched it for a few minutes, and consulted Wikipedia for the story...
  13. C

    Cool Physical Phenomena Objects?

    Ya know, rare Earth magnets and crap like that. Anybody know of some other cool things to have sitting around the house?
  14. S

    Quantum Phenomena question: Estimating Lifetime of Unstable Particle

    Homework Statement Hi, I'm fairly new to these forums and I'm stuck on a problem. Just wondered if anyone could give me any hints or tips on how to get started on the following question: An unstable particle produced in a high-energy collision has a mass of m and an uncertainty in mass that is...
  15. fluidistic

    Is the electric force responsible for this phenomena?

    I just used some species in a salsa for a couscous. The species were in powder form. When I put them in contact with the water of the salsa, they spread over a large part of the water' surface. It reminded me the electrons of a negatively charged conductor. Whatever was the spice, the effect...
  16. C

    Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena

    Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena! First 2 questions are not mathematical questions.So if there is someone who knows about what I am talking about i would be glad to hear what critical phenomena is about, i know i can use google for it and i actually did. But they are not really useful...
  17. C

    Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena

    Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena! First 2 questions are not mathematical questions.So if there is someone who knows about what I am talking about i would be glad to hear the answers. Homework Statement (a) What is a renormalization-group transformation? (b) What is the...
  18. B

    Optical Phenomena with White Wine and Glass

    Hey all, I went to my 10 year HS reunion party last night, and took about 125 photos using my Sony Alpha 350DSLR, a kit lens, and a Promaster hot-shoe flash. The camera was set to manual exposure of 1/10th sec to allow the ambient light to fill in the background, while the flash was left on...
  19. B

    Electromagnetic Black hole phenomena

    Electromagnetic "Black hole" phenomena Just read the article and you will understand the title. I'm not sure where I should put this so if you want to move it go ahead. But this shows great potential in my eyes. A brilliant discovery if made applicable...
  20. N

    What's the physics behind this phenomena (sound / electromagnetics)

    I have a stereo set-up with a sub-woofer. Sometimes, if my laptop is plugged in close by or in the same outlet, the sub-woofer "hums". It's not like a rumble, it's like a long, low, note. An engineering major told me that it had something to do with magnetic fields being generated or...
  21. E

    Materials on modelling phenomena with ODE/PDE

    Hi, I am looking for some guidance w.r.t modelling real world phenomena using ODE/PDE/SDE type equations. Are there books which go into the issues of modelling real world phenomena with these sorts of equations? Thanks in advance, Excor.
  22. B

    Quantities describing time-dependent phenomena measurable initially?

    I've been thinking about a physics problem where one can determine information about a time-dependent phenomena from looking at some quantity at one instance in time. (I'm not talking about a conserved quantity such as energy.) In my case, we are considering a wave problem and the quantity is an...
  23. F

    Optical phenomena with colliding river rocks

    Today, I was red-necking it up with some friends in Auburn at the nearby forest. We found an open area on a decent sized creek that was filled with mostly less-than-fist-sized river rock. After dark, we noticed that when a rock was thrown to the ground (on the other rocks), a small spirt of...
  24. sujoykroy

    Physical phenomena with complex number solution

    Can anybody give example of a physical phenomenon which can be stated into a polynomial equation (cubic, quintic or whatever) and which has complex number solutions and those complex numbers have some physical interpretation? The reason for asking such question tagged in physics is that i...
  25. J

    What caused the strange phenomena in the night sky?

    About 10 years ago I was attending a pig roast at my dad's camp in Maine in a very remote area. We have no electricity at the camp and there aren't any houses for several hundred acres in any direction. It was probably about 9 or 10 at night, and quite dark except for the fire light. There...
  26. N

    What was the logic behind shooting a box in my dream?

    There is something that sometimes happens in some of my dreams that I have never heard reported. It has only happened a few times, maybe 10 or 15 that I can remember. Characters in my dreams do seemingly illogical things that later in the dream turn out to have a logical reason. I am going to...
  27. K

    How do metronomes synchronize?

    Synchronization Phenomena: (Many of you probably have seen this, but it's still quite interesting) So I'm wondering how "exactly" this thing work? I have sort of a vague understanding... but not completely sure. Thanks for commenting & explanations!
  28. wolram

    Periodic astronomical phenomena

    arXiv:0901.3173 [pdf] Title: Whilst this Planet Has Gone Cycling On: What Role for Periodic Astronomical Phenomena in Large Scale Patterns in the History of Life? Authors: B.S. Lieberman, A.L. Melott (University of Kansas) Comments: 39 pages, 5 figures, to be published in the Biosphere...
  29. D

    What is the physics behind this circular rainbow in the sky?

    What physics phenomena is being demonstrated in this picture? http://teachers.dadeschools.net/jkaelin/images/extra_credit2.jpg
  30. F

    Lagrangian and eulerian descriptions of phenomena

    lagrangian and eulerian descriptions of phenomena... hello everyone, some differential equations are written in terms of a field perspective, some from the point of view of a particle moving through the field... Navier-stokes eqns can be derived from Newton' s 2nd law applied to a...
  31. F

    Demystifying Torque: A Visual Guide

    to be able to understand my point of view please check this picture which I attched>> the question is in the picture please check it thanks
  32. mtworkowski@o

    Exploring Extinction Phenomena: Impact on Scientific Experiments

    what experiments, if any, have been invalidated by the extinction phenomena.
  33. T

    Explan this phenomena with a hot steel rod

    A friend of mine told me this; you take a metal pole or rod and hold on to one end while warming up the other until it's red hot. Then you stick the warm end into cold water. One would expect it to cool down, and it does, but what happens is the end you're holding on to very quickly gets so hot...
  34. L

    Optical phenomena that can be photographed?

    Hey, I am doing this physics project where we have to take pictures of various optical phenomena. I was wondering what kind of phenomena can be photographed easily. One thing I thought of was total internal reflection, but I'm pretty much stuck on everything else. I need two different kinds...
  35. rohanprabhu

    Could a Metallic Fridge Affect Radio Waves?

    I have a small portable FM receiver on which I listen to radio sometimes. I have it kept on top of my fridge. Today morning, I noticed a strange thing happening: When I opened the door of the fridge, the volume went really low. And when I closed it again, the volume went up. I did it 4-5 times...
  36. A

    GR explanation of Newtonian Phenomena

    1. How would a general relativist explain why an object falls towards the earth? 2. Is it correct to say that it is not the apple that falls towards the Earth but it is the Earth that accelerates towards the apple? Why is this ok to say?
  37. X

    GR explanation of Newtonian Phenomena

    1. How would a general relativist explain why an object falls towards the earth? 2. Is it correct to say that it is not the apple that falls towards the Earth but it is the Earth that accelerates towards the apple? Why is this ok to say? Is it because, in GR, there are no preferred...
  38. S

    Quantum phenomena and the passage of time.

    From what I understand the future universe is qualitatively no different from the past universe. When someone experiences the present does not necessarily correlate with when another person experiences the present(e.g. stationary individual vs near-light speed traveling individual... for that...
  39. V

    Zener Tunneling Phenomena: Local or Non-Local Carriers?

    in zener tunneling phenomena, are the carriers locally generated or non-locally generated? i.e, should we assume the process as though it were generation of holes in the valence band and electrons in the conduction band? i hope someone could shed some physics on this concept. thanks.
  40. E

    Heat transfer phenomena in frictional welding

    Hi, I want to know the peak temperature attained and temperature distribution with time in a frictional welding process ( ultrasonic consolidation between an Al substrate and Al strip). The problem with normal thermocouples is that by the time it shows the temperature , the temperature has...
  41. S

    Why does the water in frozen pipes burst with no energy input?

    I found a site about this book on metaphysics or something, and the author tried to give some examples of where physics falls short or contradicts itself... this guy was clearly no scientist, but I couldn't think of a good explanation for a few things he pointed out, so maybe we can =) "As we...
  42. B

    GR explanation of Newtonian Phenomena

    1. How would a general relativist explain why an object falls towards the earth? 2. Is it correct to say that it is not the apple that falls towards the Earth but it is the Earth that accelerates towards the apple? Why is this ok to say? Is it because, in GR, there are no preferred reference...
  43. P

    Light Phenomena - shadows within shadows

    I'm new to the forum, so please guide me along. (This is my first post)Homework Statement This isn't really part of a homework assignment, just something I observed, and am puzzled as to why it occurs: Shadows seem to stick to each other, as illustrated in the picture below...
  44. D

    Magnetism as a relativistic phenomena

    I reread certain parts of Griffith's 'introduction to electrodynamics' out of interest in relativity in electrodynamics and was wondering the following. In the last chapter Griffiths shows that the magnetic field of a current carrying wire can be shown to be the electric field arising due to...
  45. M

    Exploring the Relationship between Size and Quantum Phenomena

    I'd like to say first off, that I'm not a physics student, so if an idea of mine sounds bizarre or ridiculous, please forgive me, but don't keep back any criticism. From my understanding, quantum phenomena is restricted to the 'quantum realm', and can be found to exist in measurement no...
  46. P

    Mathematica Observable mathematical phenomena

    Lets share some mathematical phenomena that are just cool (for math people) if you multiply any number of integers whose digits are only 1, the product will always be palandromic. Grab a calculator and see for your self. I would be really interested to see a proof for this phenomena...
  47. S

    Why is ESP lumped with less credible phenomena?

    there is something that has always bothered me about how society and the scientific community view paranormal concepts- it makes sense as to why things like ghosts/UFOs/fairies are not taken seriously- but the various subtle forms of mental phenomena called 'psi' or ESP are QUITE different in...
  48. M

    Hi, can i know two phenomena related to quantum physics ?

    Hi, can i know two phenomena related to quantum physics ?? hi all can i knw two phenomena related to quantum physics ??
  49. J

    Can Electromagnets Instantly Communicate Across Light Years?

    hey if you have like 2 electromagnets a few light years away from each other lets say if u turn them on at the same time (ok let's say they're very very powerful) will they react to the new magnetic field instantly , or will we have to wait a few years for the photons to go from one...
  50. R

    The Mysteries of Earthly Phenomena: NSO Questions Answered

    1. A man covers 60m distance in 1 minute on the surface of the earth.. Distance he will on the moon in 1 minute will be equal to 60 m even though gravity is low. Why? 2. A girl of mass 20kg sits on the seat of see-saw initially impart an energy 400 J to the see-saw. Then at what height her...
Back
Top