Smartphones are increasingly used in higher education and at university in mechanics, acoustics, and even thermodynamics as they offer a unique way to do simple science experiments. In this article, we show how smartphones can be used in fluid mechanics to measure surface tension of various liquids, which could help students understand the concept of surface tension through simple experiments.
References
1.
P.
Vogt
and J.
Kuhn
, “Analyzing simple pendulum phenomena with a smartphone acceleration sensor
,” Phys. Teach.
50
, 439
(Oct.
2012
).2.
P.
Vogt
and J.
Kuhn
, “Analyzing free fall with a smartphone acceleration sensor
,” Phys. Teach.
50
, 182
(March
2012
).3.
L.
Madani
, S.
Ledenmat
, A.
Bsiesy
, and J.
Chevrier
, “Teaching classical mechanics using smartphones
,” Phys. Teach.
51
, 376
(Sept.
2013
).4.
M.
Hirth
, J.
Kuhn
, and A.
Müller
, “Measurement of sound velocity made easy using harmonic resonant frequencies with everyday mobile technology
,” Phys. Teach.
53
, 120
(Feb.
2015
).5.
R. Elizabeth
Vieyra
, C.
Vieyra
, and S.
Macchia
, “Kitchen physics: Lessons in fluid pressure and error analysis
,” Phys. Teach.
55
, 87
(Feb.
2017
).6.
D. L.
Hu
and J. W. M.
Bush
, “Meniscus climbing insects
,” Nat.
437
, 733
–736
(2005
).7.
Mohamed Boutinguiza
Larosi
, “Floating together on the top
,” Phys. Teach.
53
, 93
(Feb.
2015
).8.
Renate J.
Ondris-Crawford
and Lisa
Hilliard
, “It’s all on the surface
,” Phys. Teach.
35
, 100
(Feb.
1997
).9.
C. E.
Stauffer
, “The measurement of surface tension by the pendant drop technique
,” J. Phys. Chem.
69
, 1933
(1965
).10.
A.W.
Adamson
, Physical Chemistry of Surfaces
, 2nd ed. (Interscience Publishers
, 1967
).11.
ImageJ software
, https://imagej.nih.gov/ij/.12.
M. V.
Berry
, “The molecular mechanism of surface tension
,” Phys. Educ.
6
(2
), 79
–84
(1971
).13.
J. D.
Berry
, M. J.
Neeson
, R. R.
Dagastine
, D. Y.
Chan
, and R. F.
Tabor
, “Measurement of surface and interfacial tension using pendant drop tensiometry
,” J. Colloid. Interface Sci.
454
, 226
(2015
).© 2017 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2017
American Association of Physics Teachers
AAPT members receive access to The Physics Teacher and the American Journal of Physics as a member benefit. To learn more about this member benefit and becoming an AAPT member, visit the Joining AAPT page.