Abstract:

Oscillations are a very important topic in most of undergraduate Physics courses. In this work, the mobile acceleration sensor has been used to perform laboratory Physics experiments on oscillating systems. In our experiments, an air track has been used to decrease the friction force between the glider and the track. In order to obtain damped oscillations, the air flow at the air track is decreased. In the first part, free and damped oscillations are studied. Results for the period, frequency, spring constant and damping constant match very well with other ways used for their measurement. In the second part, coupled oscillations are studied. Three cases have been included, that is, the symmetric mode, the asymmetric mode and non-normal oscillations. Results for the periods of the symmetric and asymmetric modes derived from the acceleration sensor match very well to those values measured with a photometer. The perspectives of this work for the Physics courses have also been discussed.

Keywords:

Oscillations, mobile application, accelerometer sensor.