LEARN PHYSICS WITH YOUR SMARTPHONE: ESTIMATING LOCAL GRAVITATIONAL ACCELERATION USING THE PHYPHOX APP

Abstract

It is a well-established fact that many students have an aversion to Physics, considering it overly complex and tedious. Nevertheless, it is equally true that students are deeply engrossed in their smartphones, primarily using them to access social media, engage with applications, and play online games. In light of this scenario, a pertinent question arises: could the use of smartphones as a pedagogical tool in teaching Physics facilitate learning and make it more engaging for students? To address this question, the present study reports on an experimental workshop involving 41 students from two second-year technical high school classes at a public school in São José de Ribamar – MA. The goal was to estimate the local gravitational acceleration using the Phyphox smartphone app through an experimental approach, fostering proactive and enthusiastic participation from the students. For this purpose, the students were divided into four teams, each tasked with determining its own estimate. The results indicate that the objectives of the lesson were met, as the experimental values for gravitational acceleration were obtained with errors sufficiently small for educational experiments. Additionally, by the end of the workshop, students reported enjoying this innovative approach to learning Physics.