Study of oscillatory motion using smartphones and tracker software

The purpose of this contribution is to propose a workshop for acquiring data through the use of a smartphone, not necessarily high end, equipped with a camera and the required application installed. With a smartphone and the free Physics Toolbox application, it is possible to study the oscillatory motion of both simple and vertical pendulums. This is possible by measuring the components of acceleration on the three axes by means of a reading from the internal accelerometers of the smartphone. The vertical motion of the pendulum brings to light the concept of elasticity. Thanks to the Tracker software it is possible to study the damped oscillatory motion of a moving body on a semi-circular drive through the video analysis of the motion itself. Tracker is a free video analysis and modelling tool built on the Open Source Physics Java framework. Given the simplicity of the acquisition procedure and data analysis it is possible to study the motion of circular bodies of different sizes and materials in a short amount of time. The activity relating the vertical motion of the pendulum study also allows for the comparison between the classical procedure, using a stopwatch and both proposals procedures, using smartphones and Tracker. The analysis of subsequent data acquisition must be carried out using standard spreadsheet calculations by introducing the concept of error and the techniques to make it as small as possible. The use of the new widespread technologies allows students to approach the physical concepts even outside of a classic laboratory. The ease of use and low cost allow any school environment to propose activities to the entire class by offering more contemporary workstations and organizing groups of a few students.