Electron band structure in germanium, my ass (2001)
Report a link problem
The original page was unavailable during review. The primary button opens a verified 2025 archived copy; the original address is retained as provenance.
Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderOne of my Core Memories when it comes to science, science education, and education in general was in my high school physics class, where we had to do an experiment to determine the gravitational acceleration of Earth. This was done via the following mechanism: Roll a ball off of a standard classroom table. Use a 1990s wristwatch's stopwatch mechanism to start the clock when the ball rolls of the table. Stop the stopwatch when the ball hits the floor. Anyone…
As an odd coincidence, I did the same experiment on a shoestring budget with substandard equipment also. I too used a fancy computer algorithm to get a best fit. Except that I managed to get four significant decimal places in the result — an improvement over the (also outdated) textbook. The author of the angry rant had a life-defining experience of overwhelming frustration. The same scenario resulted in a positive life-defining experience for me It’s funny how unpredictably things pan…
Hah, this exactly mirrors my experience in chemistry lessons aged 15. Failing to reproduce experimental results with broken equipment then faking the data with an excel function to get the teachers off my back so I could go back to doing something useful like staring out of the window, or using the magnesium ribbon to heat-seal peoples pencil cases shut. Good to know that it carries on up to the undergraduate level. And I even managed to associate with women…
Oh man. In the junior year of my Physics degree we had a special lab section called "Modern Physics Lab". It was 2 credits (a lab is normally 1 credit in the Florida university system and denotes how much time you're in the classroom during a week), and basically a self-study course on how to properly conduct experiments in the modern physics domain. Replicating results from early modern physics like Milliken oil drop, identifying lattice structures using X-ray spectroscopy, etc…
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 4
- Total points
- 1851
- Total comments
- 621
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-05-04 | Electron Band Structure In Germanium, My Ass First breakout | bootload | 316 | 97 |
| 2018-02-12 | Electron Band Structure in Germanium, My Ass (2001) | lyk | 163 | 38 |
| 2020-05-27 | Electron Band Structure in Germanium, My Ass | MaysonL | 4 | 0 |
| 2020-06-11 | Electron Band Structure in Germanium, My Ass (2002) | mleonhard | 1 | 1 |
| 2022-03-15 | Electron Band Structure in Germanium, My AssHall induction | blewboarwastake | 1 | 1 |
| 2023-08-06 | Electron Band Structure in Germanium, My Ass (2007) | crummy | 461 | 77 |
| 2024-11-07 | Electron Band Structure in Germanium, My Ass | java-man | 2 | 0 |
| 2025-04-01 | Electron band structure in germanium, my ass (2001)Best thread · Latest 20+ point return | tux3 | 903 | 407 |