The Atwood machine revisited using smartphones
Preprint
Abstract
The Atwood machine is a simple device used for centuries to demonstrate the Newton's second law. It consists of two supports containing different masses joined by a string. Here, we propose an experiment in which a smartphone is fixed to one support. With the aid of the built-in accelerometer of the smartphone the vertical acceleration is registered. By redistributing the masses of the supports, a linear relationship between the mass difference and the vertical acceleration is obtained. In this experiment, the use of a smartphone contributes to enhance a classical demonstration.Keywords
All Related Versions
- Version 1, 2015-06-12, ArXiv
- Published version: The Physics Teacher, 53 (6), 373.
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Acceleration measurements using smartphone sensors: Dealing with the equivalence principleRevista Brasileira de Ensino de Física, 2015
- Analyzing free fall with a smartphone acceleration sensorThe Physics Teacher, 2012