Experimental Physics I & II "Junior Lab"

Poisson Statistics

Description

Distributions in numbers of counts for random events at fixed mean counts of approximately 1, 10, and 100 are measured with a scintillation counter exposed to a weak source of gamma rays. The results are compared to the theoretical Poisson distributions for the measured means, and with the results of Monte Carlo simulations of Poisson distributions based on the use of a random number generator on a PC.

Poisson statistics experiment equipment.

Lab Guide

Poisson Statistics Lab Guide (PDF)

Selected Resources

HyperPhysics Applied Statistics Overview

poisson.m (M)

poissonsim.m (M)

Note: .m files are used in the lab experiment.