Air Pressure Versus Height: 1. Smartphone Data
Analyze air pressure data from a smartphone or tablet
It turns out nearly all smartphones (iPhones and Android models) and nearly all iPads have air pressure sensors (a.k.a. barometers). There are a couple of apps you can use to get a pressure reading but the one that seems to work best on all platforms is the Arduino Science Journal app. The goal of this activity is to use the air pressure sensor in a smartphone to collect pressure data at different heights and compare the data to known physical models.
Links to Activity
Instructions for the activity, both data collection and data analysis, are given in the playlist shown below.
Equipment
One of the following is sufficient for this activity:
- A smartphone (iPhone or android) with a built-in pressure sensor (nearly all smartphones have this)
- A tablet (iPad or Android) with a built-in pressure sensor (nearly all tablets have this)
- A digital altimeter for hiking, we recommend this model or similar
- A pressure sensor from adafruit or ardunio (requires familiarity with adafruit or arduino)
- A wireless or USB pressure sensor from an educational vendor like Vernier or Pasco (may require other equipment from these vendors to work)
Software
We recommend the Arduino Science Journal app for iOS or Android
Other physics apps that use and display smartphone sensor data would also work fine (let us know if you have a favorite!)