Studying 3D collisions with smartphones

Abstract

This paper describes a conservation of momentum experiment using just smartphones and two beach balls, thus making the experimental study of this movement available to any classroom. For a more thorough analysis of the data, a computer can also be used. Experiments making use of smartphone sensors have been described before, contributing to an improved teaching of classical mechanics. In this experiment, we have made use of two smartphone cameras together with the VidAnalysis free app to track the position of two balls colliding in air during a projectile motion (Fig. 1).