Using Arduino in Introductory Thermal Energy Experiments—The Case of Thermal Equilibrium

During the last decade, major advancements in prototyping tools such as Arduino¹ for managing sensors and data acquisition² have been made. Arduino is a low-cost microcontroller board, an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software.³ Some advantages of Arduino use are money saving for schools and universities,⁴ reliable measurements,⁵ and promotion of STEM programs.^6–8 Additionally, Arduino can help make the educational experience more interesting and fun for students.^4,9 This easy-to-use tool has led many teachers and researchers to develop experimental setups performing physics experiments in many subjects such as mechanics,^4,6,10 optics,^3,11 thermodynamics,^12–14 waves,^1,15 electricity,^9,16 magnetism,^17,18 modern physics,¹⁹ and energy.²⁰ 

In this article, we describe the use of two DS18B20 digital waterproof temperature sensors²¹ in conjunction with an Arduino Uno board and a simple homemade apparatus to explore thermal equilibrium [two objects at...