Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Using a fidget spinner to teach physics

2018; IOP Publishing; Volume: 53; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1088/1361-6552/aac69f

1361-6552

Lucas Mesquita, Guilherme Brockington, Pamella Aline de Almeida, María Elena Truyol, Leonardo André Testoni, Paula F F Sousa,

Mobile Learning in Education

In 2017, almost everywhere in the world, there was a boom in sales of fidget spinners. A toy that has 'multi-lobes' that can rotate freely from a thrust performed with the fingers. Thereby, we analysed the physics concepts that involved in this toy, such as angular and linear velocity. We did the analysis using the software Tracker, a laboratory light sensor, a free mobile application that turns the device flashlight into a strobe light source. Thus, we aim to show that it is possible to transform a well-known toy into an opportunity to work on physics concepts and to construct experiments in the classroom.