Doing physics experiments and learning with smartphones

Abstract

Physics is a subject that for a complete teaching and learning requires both theoretical discussions and practical experimentation. In this work we describe how mobile applications can turn smartphones into versatile measurement devices for broad fields of physics. Different physics experiments performed using our own developed applications, both in the teaching laboratory and profiting from everyday activities, are described. The use of smartphones' applications opens the possibility of developing low-cost laboratories as well as international teaching collaborations.