Software for at-home labs

Image: Sarhan, Youssef. Unsplash, 2017.

The following programs may be useful for at-home labs:

• Using smartphone apps to collect data such as acceleration, gyroscopic motion, magnetic field strength and air pressure.

  • Science Journal (free) by Google turns your phone into a useful data collection tool, especially for physics. This YouTube video gives a good overview of how Science Journal can be used and its various functions and this page has many, many experiments that could be done.

  • Phyphox (free) by RWTH Aachen University in Germany. See this introduction video and an example of using the magnetometer to determine the spin of a fidget spinner. This phone app also has an editor that allows you to create your own experiments.

• ImageJ (free) is also a very useful tool for image data analysis and collection. The following playlist shows a few ideas that ImageJ could be used for. While mostly for biology, teachers and students should be able to come up with ideas in physics and chemistry too. ImageJ can be used on Macs and PCs.

• Video analysis software can be useful in many physics experiments as they allow study of two-dimensional motion, have a wide field of view and generate trajectory, position and velocity graphs for the object. There are different software options, both for the computer and mobile devices.

  • Logger Pro by Vernier is software that many schools already have. In addition to simply making graphs or connecting with their probeware, Logger Pro also has video analysis capabilities and includes a tutorial. Logger Pro has a generous site license and can be used on Macs and PCs.

  • Tracker by Open Source Physics is a free and open-source video analysis tool. This getting started video tutorial will introduce the software to you. The software is available in 26 languages.

  • For mobile devices there are similar tools such as VidAnalysis is free for Android phones and Vernier Video Physics by Vernier costs about US$5 for iOS.