The Atwood machine revisited using smartphones
Physics Education
2015-09-02 v1
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.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1506.04119,
title = {The Atwood machine revisited using smartphones},
author = {Martín Monteiro and Cecilia Stari and Cecilia Cabeza and Arturo C. Marti},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1506.04119},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
5 pages, 5 figures