Práticas experimentais de física a distância: desenvolvendo uma aplicação com Arduíno para a realização do experimento de Millikan remotamente

Abstract

The introduction of practical classes as a didactic strategy to motivate and awaken a taste for science subjects, especially physics and chemistry, is commonly pointed out as an important strategy and of great impact in the teaching / learning process. However, there are several difficulties that may be related to the use of this methodology, such as lack of structure (laboratory rooms and equipment), time for preparation and preparation of classes, among others. But even with such limits many groups of researchers in the field of teaching have been proposing new attitudes and teaching practices as strategies to make learning these subjects more attractive and substantial. In terms of experimental classes many groups suggest the use of low cost materials as alternatives to the lack of "laboratory equipment" and, more recently, the inclusion of remote experiments where an institution with such equipment makes them available through the internet. In the latter, automation mechanisms allow an operator outside the institution to perform the experimental procedures. In this work, we will approach this last proposal as an alternative for the insertion of the experimental classes. We present a system based on the Arduino platform capable of realizing the Millikan experiment for the determination of the elementary charge of the electron at a distance, composed by an actuator circuit and command software. In order to verify the technical and didactic feasibility of the proposal, we carried out an application with a group of students from a school in the state education network and, in view of the results obtained, we believe that this proposal can be a viable alternative for the inclusion of experimental classes.