S martphones in P hysics and
E ngineering E ducation
Dr. Shakur “Doc”
Taylor Sinatra

And the $1 Billion Winner is …

S mart … Very S mart!
• Compelling piece of technology
• Microprocessor and Operating System
• Haptic System (Touchscreen)
• Array of sensors included
• Three-axis accelerometer
• Gyroscope
• Gaussmeter (Magnetometer)
• TRRS Headphone input / output
• Microphones
• Speakers

Monkey See … Monkey Do!

Gotcha!

Antisymmetric Tracks … and the winner is?

Symmetry-breaking in Classical Physics

Atwood’s Machine
• Measure gravity by “slowing it down”
• Measured by hanging two slightly different masses and reading the acceleration

Atwood’s Machine
• Smartphone is placed in a plastic bag
• App measures the acceleration
• Data compared to theory
• 99% accurate

Acceleration App
• Today is your lucky day!
• Everybody in the audience gets it FREE!

Centripetal Acceleration Lab
• The phone is placed on a turntable and the app is run
• a = mv 2 /r

20 th Century 21 st Century

Frequency and Oscilloscope

Android Bluetooth Remote for Lego Mindstorm NXT

Quantum Mystery

T HE B ook!

MIT App Inventor
• App Inventor is Free
• Simple pre-coded blocks make it relatively easy to use

Blocks Editor

Future Exploration
• Smartphones have become indispensable
• Ideas for future laboratories
– Oscilloscope and Signalscope App
– Gaussmeter for magnetic fields
– Gyroscope for angular speed
• Smartphones can reduce lab budget significantly
• Students are excited about using smartphones

Android Emulator on the PC

Install App

T hat’s All Folks …