Experimental study of a granular gas fluidized by vibrations

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We report experimental results on the behavior of an ensemble of inelastically colliding particles, excited by a vibrated piston in a vertical cylinder. When the particle number is increased, we observe a transition from a regime where the particles have erratic motions (granular "gas") to a collective behavior where all the particles bounce like a nearly solid body. In the gaslike regime, we measure the pressure at constant volume, and the bed expansion at constant external pressure, as a function of the number N of particles. We also measure the density of particles as a function of the altitude, and find that the "atmosphere" is exponential far enough from the piston. From these three independent measurements, we determine a "state equation" between pressure, volume, particle number and the vibration amplitude and frequency.