Experimenting with RC and RL series circuits using smartphones as signal generators and oscilloscopes

Simple, portable and low-cost experiments as RC and RL series circuits are proposed to experiment with DC circuits. Very common elements are used: a few electronics components (resistors, capacitors, coils and connecting wires) and two smartphones. We consider the charging and discharging of a capac...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Torriente-García, Ives, Muñoz-Pérez, Francisco M, Martí, Arturo, Monteiro, Martín, Castro-Palacio, Juan C., Monsoriu, Juan A.
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:Uruguay
Recursos:Universidad de la República
Repositorio:COLIBRI
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:colibri.udelar.edu.uy:20.500.12008/42287
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12008/42287
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Smartphones
Signal generator
Oscilloscope
RC circuit
RL circuit
Descrição
Resumo:Simple, portable and low-cost experiments as RC and RL series circuits are proposed to experiment with DC circuits. Very common elements are used: a few electronics components (resistors, capacitors, coils and connecting wires) and two smartphones. We consider the charging and discharging of a capacitor in the RC circuit and also that of coil in the RL circuit. Using a smartphone as an oscilloscope we observe voltages variations which are the transient response to a square signal generated in the second smartphone. These voltage variations are directly related to the electrostatic or magnetic energy stored in the circuits. The experimental data have been collected with the smartphone used as an oscilloscope and corroborated with theoretical predictions based on Kirchhoff’s laws. The comparison showed differences of the order of the 1% or less between the calculated capacitance or inductance compared to the manufacturer values. This approach which avoids the use of expensive signal generators, oscilloscopes, or any specialized hardware can be performed in less-favored contexts and even as a home assignment.