---
title: "Fields & matter — Sandbox Physics"
description: "Stir a fluid, steer an electron and look inside a material."
canonical_url: "https://sandboxphysics.com/topics/fields-and-matter/"
language: "en"
page_type: "lab-directory"
alternate_languages:
  zh-CN: "https://sandboxphysics.com/zh/topics/fields-and-matter/"
last_modified: "2026-10-25"
---

[← All Labs](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/) 03 / 04

Fluids · Electrons · Materials

# Fields & matter

Stir a fluid, steer an electron and look inside a material.

112 experiments

Start here

## From a field to an electron microscope

Map an electric field and steer a charged particle. Then find the electron's wavelength and use electron beams to see a crystal and a surface.

6 Labs · about 96 min

1. [01 Observe Make an Electric Field Visible Move the probe around a dipole and check that the field always points downhill on the potential landscape. 8 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electric-field/)
2. [02 Model A Charge Bending through Fields Launch with only a magnetic field, then add an electric field. Which one changes the kinetic energy? 10 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/charged-particle/)
3. [03 Transfer Electron Wavelength & Voltage Raise the accelerating voltage and compare the classical and relativistic wavelengths of the electron beam. 18 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electron-wavelength/)
4. [04 Model Electron Diffraction & Reciprocal Space Tilt a thin crystal, acquire a diffraction pattern and compare one spot's radius with the prediction. Then halve the camera length. 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electron-diffraction/)
5. [05 Compare TEM Bright Field, Dark Field & SAED Move the objective aperture to make one grain bright in dark field, then record its selected-area diffraction. 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/tem-mode-selector/)
6. [06 Transfer SEM Secondary-Electron Topography Rotate the side detector around the same surface. Does a brighter region mean a taller one? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/sem-topography/)

## Browse the collection

Find an experiment

112 experiments

1. [Fields & matter Ising Critical Fluctuations Why do large patches of aligned spins appear near a critical temperature? 12 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/ising-critical-fluctuations/)
2. [Fields & matter Hopfield Associative Memory How can a network recover a whole picture from a damaged cue? 12 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/hopfield-associative-memory/)
3. [Fields & matter Climate Energy Balance Why does Earth keep warming after the heating stops increasing? 12 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/climate-energy-balance/)
4. [Fields & matter Alfvén Waves How can a magnetic field carry a sideways disturbance through a plasma? 12 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/alfven-wave/)
5. [Fields & matter Transistor Bias and Output Curves Why does the collector current stop following the base current at low output voltage? 15 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/transistor-output-characteristics/)
6. [Fields & matter Heterojunction Injection How do a band step, bias and temperature change carrier injection? 15 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/heterojunction-injection/)
7. [Fields & matter Blue LED: Recombination and Efficiency Why can a blue LED become brighter while its efficiency falls? 15 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/blue-led-efficiency/)
8. [Fields & matter CCD: Follow the Charge Why does a bright CCD pixel leave a trail when charge transfer is imperfect? 16 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/ccd-charge-transfer/)
9. [Fields & matter GMR Spin Valve How does rotating one magnetic layer change the resistance of a spin valve? 16 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/gmr-spin-valve/)
10. [Fields & matter Neutron Triple-Axis Spectrometer What does a neutron’s final energy tell us about motion inside a sample? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/neutron-triple-axis-spectrometer/)
11. [Fields & matter Solar Neutrino Flavor Observatory How can you tell a fainter Sun from neutrinos that change flavor on the way? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/solar-neutrino-flux/)
12. [Fields & matter Long-Baseline CP Observatory Can the neutrino and antineutrino spectra from an accelerator beam reveal the CP phase? 30 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/long-baseline-cp/)
13. [Fields & matter Neutrino Sky Search Observatory Does a neutrino hotspot found by scanning the whole sky count as real evidence? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/neutrino-sky-search/)
14. [Fields & matter Beta Energy Sharing Observatory Why do electrons from beta decay come out with a whole range of energies? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/beta-energy-sharing/)
15. [Fields & matter Double Beta Decay Observatory In double beta decay, what would a peak in the two electrons’ total energy mean, and what if none appears? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/neutrinoless-double-beta/)
16. [Fields & matter Beta Endpoint Mass Observatory How can electron energies near the end of the beta-decay spectrum reveal the neutrino’s mass? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/beta-endpoint-mass/)
17. [Fields & matter Reactor Near–Far Spectra How can detectors near and far from a reactor reveal neutrinos disappearing on the way? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/reactor-near-far-spectra/)
18. [Fields & matter Neutrino Matter Resonance When a neutrino passes through matter of changing density, does its quantum state keep up with the change? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/neutrino-matter-resonance/)
19. [Fields & matter Supernova Neutrino Burst Observatory When should a sudden jump in neutrino events trigger a supernova alarm? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/supernova-neutrino-burst/)
20. [Fields & matter Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber How does a liquid argon detector use timing to get a track’s third dimension? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/liquid-argon-tpc/)
21. [Fields & matter Atmospheric Neutrino Zenith Experiment How can the direction atmospheric neutrinos come from reveal that some change flavor? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/atmospheric-neutrino-zenith/)
22. [Fields & matter Neutrino Flavor Propagation Why does the chance of finding a neutrino in each flavor rise and fall as it travels? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/neutrino-flavor-propagation/)
23. [Fields & matter Reactor Antineutrino Coincidence Can you widen the timing window to catch more reactor antineutrinos without letting in too many false pairs? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/reactor-coincidence/)
24. [Fields & matter Cherenkov Light & Detector Rings When does a cone of light become a ring? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/cherenkov-rings/)
25. [Fields & matter IceCube: From Sensor Hits to a Track Can the light recorded by IceCube’s sensors reveal which way a particle was going? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/icecube-reconstruction/)
26. [Fields & matter Electron–Matter Signal Map When an electron beam enters a specimen, where do the different signals come from? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electron-signal-map/)
27. [Fields & matter Raster Scan & Drift Recovery Can aligning repeated frames undo the distortion that drift causes in a scanned image? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electron-raster/)
28. [Fields & matter Electron Diffraction & Reciprocal Space Which reciprocal-lattice points become detector spots? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electron-diffraction/)
29. [Fields & matter Spin ARPES: Polarization & Counting When reversing a spin detector's magnetization changes the count, is that spin or unequal photon flux? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/spin-arpes/)
30. [Fields & matter SEM Microanalysis: EDS & WDS Do X-ray counts at the vanadium energy prove that a sample contains vanadium? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/sem-microanalysis/)
31. [Fields & matter FIB Lamella: From Bulk to TEM Grid How do you lift out a thin specimen without losing its support or useful material? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/fib-milling/)
32. [Fields & matter Electron Lithography: Draw, Expose, Develop Why do isolated and dense lines develop differently? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electron-lithography/)
33. [Fields & matter CBED: Read Thickness Inside the Disc Can a CBED disc tell a crystal's thickness apart from its tilt? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/cbed-thickness/)
34. [Fields & matter MicroED: Rotate, Integrate, Fit the Basis If the crystal turns through only a limited angle, along which directions can its diffraction locate the atoms? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/microed-rotation/)
35. [Fields & matter Aberration Corrector: Tune the Electron Probe Can a wider cone of electrons focus to a sharper probe? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/aberration-corrector/)
36. [Fields & matter Electron Ptychography: Recover Phase from Overlap What do overlapping probe positions add to a set of diffraction patterns? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electron-ptychography/)
37. [Fields & matter Multi-beam SEM: Calibrate Before Stitching Can a multi-beam SEM scan faster and still stitch its tiles into a seamless image? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/multibeam-sem/)
38. [Fields & matter Ultrafast TEM: Resolve Time Without Losing Counts Can many weak electron pulses capture fast dynamics that one intense pulse would blur? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/ultrafast-tem/)
39. [Fields & matter Single-particle Cryo-EM: From Movies to a Map Can more particle images fill in a missing viewing direction? 30 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/single-particle-cryo-em/)
40. [Fields & matter Photoelectron Structure: Direction and Depth What can photoelectron diffraction and standing-wave scans tell you about where atoms sit? 30 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/photoelectron-structure/)
41. [Fields & matter Electron Tomography: Reconstruct the Missing View How much of a specimen's three-dimensional structure can a tilt series recover? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electron-tomography/)
42. [Fields & matter Cryo Electron Tomography: Spend Dose, Average Copies Can averaging many copies of a structure pull its signal out of the noise in a cryo-electron tomogram? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/cryo-electron-tomography/)
43. [Fields & matter Environmental SEM: Keep Water, Control Charge Can chamber gas stop a wet insulator from drying out and charging without blurring the probe? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/environmental-sem/)
44. [Fields & matter Cryo-SEM: Preserve Before You Observe Can you distinguish freezing damage, frost, charging and beam damage? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/cryo-sem/)
45. [Fields & matter STEM-in-SEM: Through a Thin Specimen How thin must a specimen be for a useful SEM transmission image? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/stem-in-sem/)
46. [Fields & matter STEM Detectors: Choose the Scattering Angle Which electrons make columns of heavier atoms look brighter in a STEM image? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/stem-detectors/)
47. [Fields & matter EBSD: From Bands to Grains Can you trust an EBSD grain map made with a bad calibration? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/ebsd-orientation/)
48. [Fields & matter TKD: Through the Nanocrystal Can a thinner specimen resolve smaller grains? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/transmission-kikuchi/)
49. [Fields & matter BSE: Composition or Orientation? Can brighter grains prove a different composition? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/bse-composition/)
50. [Fields & matter Low-energy SEM: Slow at the Surface Can electrons travel fast in the column and land gently? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/low-energy-sem/)
51. [Fields & matter Scanning Auger: A Few Nanometres Can a sharp Auger elemental map hide beam damage to the surface chemistry? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/scanning-auger/)
52. [Fields & matter Inverse Photoemission: Empty States What can emitted photons tell us about empty electron states? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/inverse-photoemission/)
53. [Fields & matter FIB-SEM: From Slices to Volume When can clear slices produce a wrong volume? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/fib-sem-volume/)
54. [Fields & matter Block-face SEM: Between the Cuts Can sharp block-face images still miss structures that lie between two cuts? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/serial-block-face/)
55. [Fields & matter In-situ TEM: Measure a Thermal Rate In an in-situ heating experiment, is the electron beam only watching the transformation or also driving it? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/in-situ-tem/)
56. [Fields & matter Liquid-cell TEM: Observing or Driving? Does a clearer liquid-cell movie give a more reliable reaction rate? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/liquid-cell-tem/)
57. [Fields & matter Lorentz TEM: Where the Walls Appear Why does a magnetic domain wall switch from bright to dark when the defocus is reversed? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/lorentz-tem/)
58. [Fields & matter Electron Holography: Recover the Hidden Phase Can electron holography separate the magnetic part of the phase from the electric part? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electron-holography/)
59. [Fields & matter Dynamical Diffraction: When Intensity Returns Does a thicker crystal always send more intensity into diffraction? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/dynamical-diffraction/)
60. [Fields & matter Precession Diffraction: From Spots to Grains Can swinging the electron beam around a cone make grain orientations easier to identify? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/precession-diffraction/)
61. [Fields & matter Cathodoluminescence: Where Light Is Born Does a dark spot mean the beam generated fewer carriers? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/cathodoluminescence/)
62. [Fields & matter Vibrational EELS: Resolution & Aloof Probes How far can you narrow the electron source's energy band to sharpen a vibrational spectrum? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/vibrational-eels/)
63. [Fields & matter STEM-EDS: Nanochemical Maps Does a sharper electron probe guarantee a sharper chemical map? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/stem-eds/)
64. [Fields & matter PEEM: Thresholds & Magnetic Domains Can PEEM tell magnetic contrast apart from brightness caused by uneven illumination? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/peem-surface/)
65. [Fields & matter LEEM: Surface Reflection & Diffraction Can imaging with a single diffracted beam pick out one kind of surface domain? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/leem-surface/)
66. [Fields & matter Micro / Nano ARPES: Spots & Domains Can a smaller light spot resolve a narrow domain without damaging it? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/micro-arpes/)
67. [Fields & matter Momentum Microscopy: Time-of-Flight Cube When does time-of-flight counting distort the band map in a momentum microscope? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/momentum-tof/)
68. [Fields & matter Time ARPES: Pulses & Relaxation Does a decay measured in time-resolved ARPES show the true lifetime or the length of the pulses? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/time-arpes/)
69. [Fields & matter APXPS: Gas, Reaction & Operando States When an XPS peak weakens under gas, is that the gas or a change in the surface? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/apxps-operando/)
70. [Fields & matter HAXPES: Depth & Buried Interfaces Can higher-energy X-rays reveal a layer buried under the surface? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/haxpes-depth/)
71. [Fields & matter XPS: Elements, Chemical States & Charging How can you tell whether a shifted XPS peak comes from a chemical change or from charging? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/xps-chemical-state/)
72. [Fields & matter UPS: Valence Bands & Work Function Which two edges of a UPS spectrum give the work function? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/ups-work-function/)
73. [Fields & matter 4D-STEM: One Scan, Many Virtual Images What can you learn by recording a full diffraction pattern at every probe position? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/four-d-stem/)
74. [Fields & matter DPC: Beam Deflection & Projected Fields When does the shift of the diffraction disk measure the field in the specimen? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/dpc-field/)
75. [Fields & matter EELS: Energy Loss & Thin-Specimen Signals What do electrons lose when they pass through a thin specimen? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/eels/)
76. [Fields & matter EFTEM: Energy Windows & Elemental Maps Does a bright energy-filtered pixel mean more carbon? 25 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/eftem/)
77. [Fields & matter HRTEM Phase Contrast & CTF Can the same atoms look dark in one high-resolution TEM image and bright in another? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/hrtem-ctf/)
78. [Fields & matter TEM Bright Field, Dark Field & SAED In a TEM, which aperture selects one beam and which selects one region of the specimen? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/tem-mode-selector/)
79. [Fields & matter SEM Secondary-Electron Topography Does a brighter surface mean a taller surface? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/sem-topography/)
80. [Fields & matter TEM Mass–Thickness Contrast Why does a denser inclusion look dark in bright-field TEM? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/tem-mass-thickness/)
81. [Fields & matter Photoemission & Hemispherical Analyzer Can you resolve two close peaks in a photoelectron spectrum without losing most of the counts? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/photoemission-analyzer/)
82. [Fields & matter ARPES Band & Fermi-Surface Mapping How does an emission angle reveal an electronic band? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/arpes-band-mapping/)
83. [Fields & matter Electron Scattering & Mean Free Paths How thin must a specimen be to avoid multiple scattering? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electron-scattering/)
84. [Fields & matter Vacuum, Charging & Conductive Coatings Can you stop charging without hiding the surface? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electron-vacuum/)
85. [Fields & matter Electron Dose, Noise & Damage When does more exposure stop revealing more detail? 20 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electron-dose/)
86. [Fields & matter Electron Wavelength & Voltage Is higher accelerating voltage always better? 18 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electron-wavelength/)
87. [Fields & matter Electron Gun Workbench Which electron source gives the most coherent beam? 18 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electron-gun/)
88. [Fields & matter Electron Optical Column Can you focus an electron probe to a small spot and still keep enough current? 18 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electron-column/)
89. [Fields & matter Electron Resolution & Aberration Budget Once spherical aberration is corrected, what limits how small the probe can be? 18 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electron-aberrations/)
90. [Fields & matter How an Offset Circle Becomes a Lifting Airfoil What sets how much circulation an airfoil carries, and so how much lift it makes? 12 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/airfoil-circulation/)
91. [Fields & matter Make an Electric Field Visible How can the shape of the electric potential tell you the force on a charge? 8 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/electric-field/)
92. [Fields & matter Billions of Collisions in a Gas How do random collisions settle into a steady pressure, temperature and speed distribution? 7 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/ideal-gas/)
93. [Fields & matter A Charge Bending through Fields How can a magnetic field turn motion without changing speed? 10 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/charged-particle/)
94. [Fields & matter Why a Spinning Ball Curves How does tilting a ball's spin axis change the way it curves and where it lands? 8 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/magnus-effect/)
95. [Fields & matter How One Moving Wall Drives an Entire Fluid Why does a right-moving lid create one giant clockwise circulation inside a sealed cavity? 12 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/lid-driven-cavity/)
96. [Fields & matter How Neighbors Reconstruct a Splashing Pool How can particles that only sense their neighbors work out the density and pressure of splashing water? 16 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/sph-free-surface-splash/)
97. [Fields & matter How a Tiny Ripple Rolls into a Shear Vortex When does a ripple between two fluid layers sliding past each other start to grow? 16 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/kelvin-helmholtz-instability/)
98. [Fields & matter Bend a Wall, Transform a Flow Why does a conformal map change flow speeds near corners even though it preserves angles? 12 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/schwarz-christoffel-flow/)
99. [Fields & matter Stretch the Dye, Keep the Rotation Ledger How can a flow with no viscosity stir dye into fine threads without losing energy or rotation? 14 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/euler-vorticity-mixing/)
100. [Fields & matter Let Pressure Write the Shock Diamonds Why does a supersonic jet form a chain of diamonds when its exit pressure differs from the surrounding air? 16 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/supersonic-jet-shock-diamonds/)
101. [Fields & matter Push a Numerical Jet by Hand What do advection, diffusion and pressure projection each do in a fluid simulation? 12 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/interactive-jet/)
102. [Fields & matter How Phase Turns Flapping into Propulsion How does the timing between a wing's heaving and pitching decide whether it makes drag or thrust? 14 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/flapping-wing/)
103. [Fields & matter Why a Symmetric Wake Breaks Itself Why does the wake behind a fixed cylinder shed vortices from alternate sides? 12 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/karman-vortex-street/)
104. [Fields & matter How Signed Singularities Assemble Fluid Orbits How do a handful of point vortices move one another? 14 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/point-vortex-dynamics/)
105. [Fields & matter How One Diaphragm Creates Three Compressible Waves Why does bursting the diaphragm in a shock tube send out a shock, a contact surface and a rarefaction fan? 15 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/shock-tube/)
106. [Fields & matter How a Thermal Gradient Organizes into Rolls When does a fluid layer heated from below start to convect? 12 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/rayleigh-benard-convection/)
107. [Fields & matter Immune Design from Molecule to Organoid How does a T cell recognizing an antigen lead to clearing targets across a whole tissue? 12 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/multiscale-immune-surveillance/)
108. [Fields & matter From Hard Spheres to Boltzmann How can the Boltzmann equation be derived rigorously from Newtonian collisions of hard spheres? 14 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/hard-spheres-to-boltzmann/)
109. [Fields & matter Why Two Vortex Rings Leapfrog Why does the rear vortex ring shrink and slip through the front one? 12 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/vortex-rings/)
110. [Fields & matter How Rotating Shear Fractures into Taylor Cells Why can fluid swirling between two cylinders break up into stacked rolls? 14 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/taylor-couette-flow/)
111. [Fields & matter WBE and the Quarter-Power Pace of Life How can a branching supply network explain why metabolism and heart rate scale with body mass? 12 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/wbe-allometric-scaling/)
112. [Fields & matter How Stars Build Elements up to Iron Why does fusion release energy only until nuclei approach iron? 15 min](https://sandboxphysics.com/labs/stellar-fusion-chain/)

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