I bough 6 apples at the store. I put them on the kitchen island. Later, I took 4 away and put them in the refrigerator.. I left 2 of them on the island for my wife and I later in the day.
After seeing your question---and knowing that my wife is having lunch with one of her friends---I just went back and counted---and unsurprisingly, I still have the six apples downstairs.
Just put the result of my experiment in your lab book.
If you personally take away four apples from the six apples that were available, no matter what, you would still only have four, because that is all you took. LOL
Except that I already possessed the 6 available apples.
As a physicist, I am very careful about what is given in a problem so that I don't make unjustified assumptions that may influence the veracity of the results
Six as referring to the number of apples in question. "There are 6 apples" neither specifies not precludes ownership. so I performed my experiment and indicated that it's appropriate place was in the lab book as a record of possible answers.
It's why I was so detailed in explaining how and why I ran my experiment---as well as the results. :)
Youre a physicist? That is so cool. I think I have a crush on you now. Im being serious tom jackson. I love physics and especially those who study it. Wow. ;))
Bozette 