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A simple pendulum-based measurement of g with a smartphone light

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Phys. Educ. 53 (2018) 043001 (4pp) iopscience.org/ped

A simple pendulum-based
measurement of g with a
smartphone light sensor
Unofre Pili and Renante Violanda
University of San Carlos, Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines

E-mail: unofrepili@gmail.com

Abstract
A quick and very accessible method for the measurement of acceleration
due to gravity is presented. The experimental set-up employs a smartphone
ambient light sensor as the motion timer for measuring the period of a simple
pendulum. This allowed us to obtain an experimental value, 9.72  +  0.05
m s−2, for the gravitational acceleration which is in good agreement with the
local theoretical value of 9.78 m s−2.

1. Introduction physical quantity are quite common and students’

Smartphones appear to be swiftly becoming an interest and enthusiasm about those experiments,
established primary tool in elementary exper­ such as the one that uses the stopwatch, maybe
imental physics [1, 2]. This fact is due to the declining. Using the smartphone light sensor as
internal sensors in these sophisticated but handy a motion timer is seen as both appealing and an
devices. Most common of these sensors are the added motivation.
magnetic field sensor, ambient light sensor,
sound sensor and the accelerometer. The smart­ 2.  Theoretical background
phone accelerometer has emerged to be very
The simple pendulum is a classic example of
useful in investigating free fall [3] as well as in
the simple harmonic motion which is primarily
studying simple harmonic motion [4]. Kapucu
characterized by the uniformity of the period of
[5] measured the speed and acceleration of a
oscillations. The period of the simple pendulum
light-emitting object using the ambient light sen­
is characteristically a function of the acceleration
sor while a measurement of the magnetic field
due to gravity, hence an accurate measurement of
due to current-carrying conductors has been car­
the period allows for an accurate measurement of
ried out with the magnetic field sensor [6]. For its
the value of the acceleration due to gravity. Apart
part, the sound sensor finds uses in the applica­
from the gravitational acceleration g, the period
tion of the Doppler Effect in investigating linear
T also depends on the length L of the pendulum.
motion [7] and in measuring the acoustical and
This exact relationship, in the small angle regime,
mechanical properties of vibrating rods [8]. In
is expressed as [9]
this paper we present a further use of the ambi­ 
ent light sensor in experimental physics which is L
in measuring the gravitational acceleration via (1) T = 2π ,
g
a simple pendulum. Seeing that other methods
(timer-wise) for the measurement of the same which can be expressed in the form

1361-6552/18/043001+4$33.00 1 © 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd

U Pili and R Violanda

4π 2
T2 =
(2) L.
g
Equation (2) is a linear relation with slope S:
4π 2
S=
(3) .
g
Having gathered data points on the periods and
lengths, equation (2) can be employed graphically
from which linear fit the slope, equation (3), gives
the gravitational acceleration.

3. Experiment
With equation  (1) as the working equation  for
the measurement of the acceleration due to grav­
ity, the crucial parameter to be measured directly
using the setup was the period of oscillations.
It was for this task that we have employed the
smartphone ambient light sensor as the motion
timer. The experimental set-up, except for the
computer, is depicted in fi ­ gure 1 and is made up
of a smartphone installed with an android appli­
cation called Physics Toolbox Sensor Suites [10],
a simple pendulum setup, a short and small tube
Figure 1.  Experimental set-up. A small paper tubing
glued to the smartphone and encircles the light sensor
(front camera) in order to focus the entering ambient
light as the pendulum leaves it (or focus the relative
darkness as the pendulum approaches it). The initial or
maximum angular displacement of the pendulum bob
(right) is not drawn to scale; in the actual experiment it
should be 10° at the maximum.
55
Intensity (lux)

made of paper or any material and glue. To start

the data acquisition, we launched the ambient
light sensor of the device via the application and
then we allowed the pendulum to oscillate—over
small angle regime—above the location of the
light sensor. As a result, the sensor became peri­
odically covered from, and exposed to, the ambi­
ent light, generating a time series of peaks and
valleys in the graphical display of the light inten­
sity data. The peaks and valleys are the maximum
and minimum intensity of light, respectively—as
the pendulum approaches the sensor the ambi­
ent light intensity it receives decreases and as
the pendulum leaves the sensor, the ambient light
increases. The data was directly saved as a MS
Excel file and was exported to the computer, the
time-based data was plotted—an intensity versus
time plot. Figure  2 is one of those six plots. To
increase the reliability of our results we have con­
sidered six different lengths.
4. Results
The period of oscillations of the pendulum is equal to
the time interval between two successive peaks (or val­
leys) on the graphical display—shown in figure 2—of
45
35
0 10 20
Time (s)
Figure 2.  Light intensity plot reflecting the periodic
pattern of the motion of the pendulum.
the data. Hence, we were able to determine the period
of the pendulum associated to each length with the
time coordinates in each peak obtained via the data
cursor. The occurrence of a random error in reading
the time coordinates was very probable therefore in
order to minimize it we have computed the average
value from at least ten pairs of successive peaks. The
complete list of our data for the periods (including
their squared values) and their corresponding lengths
is reflected in table 1. Guided by the linear relation
expressed in equation (2) we plotted the square of the
period against time; this plot is depicted in figure 3.
Inserting the slope of the best fit line to the data points
in equation (3) we found the acceleration due to grav­
ity to be 9. 721 m s−2. From the error in the slope,

July 2018 2 Phys. Educ. 53 (2018) 043001

 A simple pendulum-based measurement of g with a smartphone light sensor

Table 1.  Lengths and corresponding periods (and While the android application can be downloaded
squared periods). for free on the Google Play Store the primary mat­
Length (m) Period (s) Period2 (s2) erials which are the smartphone and computer are
very accessible. Furthermore, some other experi­
0.249 1.011 1.022 ments involving motion may similarly employ the
0.416 1.292 1.670
0.561 1.499 2.247 smartphone ambient light sensor as the motion
0.761 1.746 3.050 timer—with its motion-timing capability demon­
0.899 1.912 3.656 strated in this experiment.
1.121 2.144 4.597

Acknowledgment
We would like to thank the Physics Department
4.750
y = 4.0611x of the University of San Carlos for the simple
pendulum set-up and to the laboratory attendants
3.750
Period2 (s2)

Mr Jay-R Bahinting and Mr Harold Bolanon for

2.750
1.750
0.750
0.2 0.6 1 References
Length (m)
Figure 3.  Square of period against length. Red line is
a linear fit to the data points with slope 4.0611 s2 m−1.
which was obtained using the linear regression data
analysis feature in MS Excel, and subsequently apply­
ing error propagation for division [11] we obtained
the gravitational acceleration to be 9.72  +  0.05 m
s−2. Inserting our latitude and altitude in an appro­
priate formula [12] we obtained our locally accepted
value of the gravitational acceleration to be 9.78
m s−2 which is a relative good match with our exper­
imental measurement.
5. Conclusions
The obtained value of the acceleration due to
gravity is within the acceptable margin of exper­
imental error; thus the method used is quite suit­
able if a full-length replication as a high school
or elementary undergraduate laboratory activity is
considered. In addition, by using only one pendu­
lum length, this experiment can be employed in
the classroom setting as a quick demonstration on
the gravitational acceleration as well as on the ver­
ification of the theory expressed in equation  (1).
providing us the set-up.
Received 26 December 2017, in final form 16 January 2018
Accepted for publication 30 January 2018
https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6552/aaab9c
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speed of a light-emitting object on an
inclined plane Phys. Educ. 52 055003
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in a smartphone for facile magnetostatic
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July 2018 3 Phys. Educ. 53 (2018) 043001

U Pili and R Violanda
[9] Young H D, Freedman R A and Ford A L Unofre Pili is currently working on a
2012 Sears and Zemansky’s University PhD in Physics and teaches college
Physics 13th edn (Reading, MA: physics at the University of San
Addison-Wesley) Carlos. His doctoral research topic is
[10] Vieyra Software Tool Updated 2018 Physics in the area of theoretical high-
toolbox sensor suites (https://play. temperature superconductivity. Apart
google.com/store/apps/details?id=com. from it, he also enjoys designing high
school physics experiments that employ the smartphone
chrystianvieyra.physicstoolboxsuite)
device.
(Accessed: 13 February 2018)
[11] Deacon C 1992 Error analysis in the introductory
physics laboratory Phys. Teach. 30 368
Renante Violanda also teaches at the
[12] National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom) University of San Carlos and does
Local accepted value of the gravitational research on machine learning for his
acceleration (www.npl.co.uk/reference/faqs/ PhD in Physics. He is also proficient in
how-can-i-determine-my-local-values-of- signals and systems and
gravitational-acceleration-and-altitude-(faq- instrumentation.
pressure)) (Accessed: 13 February 2018)

July 2018 4 Phys. Educ. 53 (2018) 043001