Module evaluation of the acceleration due to gravity with Arduino

Abstract

In this work, we will use the free hardware platform Arduino to automate the experimental process of the free-fall motion of a body, with good accuracy. From sensors positioned at known heights, we analyzed the time interval for a ball to go through diferente vertical distances. The ball acceleration was determined by the linear analysis on height variation over time interval versus time interval, in which the double slope corresponds to the local module g. By virtue of launch conditions, the effects of air resistance were negligible to calculate g. Thus, we consider it as a free-fall motion. The instrument developed allowed us to obtain the average value of g differing in only 1% of the value found in the literature, this shows that the Arduino is an interesting tool for data acquisitionand automation of physics experiments. We emphasize in this paper the importance of using new Technologies in the teaching of Sciences, especially Physics.