Caderno Brasileiro de Ensino de Física (Aug 2020)

Construction of an automated experimental device for the determination of the Planck’s constant with Arduino platform aid

  • Ivanor Nunes Oliveira,
  • Jorge Anderson P. Ramos,
  • Wilton Lacerda Silva,
  • Valteni Douglas Chaves,
  • Clênia Andrade Oliveira de Melo

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7941.2020v37n2p828
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 37, no. 2
pp. 828 – 848

Abstract

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By modeling a radiant body as a set of harmonic oscillators, the physicist Max Planck in 1900 hypothesized that the oscillators of substances may have only a discrete set of energy, and in the process of interaction with the radiation field, can change its energy in portions equal to . Planck's constant is one of the fundamental constants of physics, along with others such as the charge and mass of the electron, the speed of light, and the Boltzmann constant. As the subsequent development of quantum physics shows, all mechanical moments of atoms, molecules, electrons, and nuclei are expressed in units of . In addition, Planck's constant enters into a series of relations that play a fundamental role in quantum physics and that determine the discrete states of the micro particles, the wave-particle duality of their properties. In this paper, it is proposed to determine Planck's constant by studying the characteristic curves of semiconductor LASERs obtained with the aid of an automated experimental model containing an Arduino board connected to an electronic circuit with these electronic devices. The experimental model consists of the following parts: optical bench with supports; ruler with zero centered, where the main maximum and secondary maximums of the spectrum of the light emitted by the electronic devices obtained with the aid of the diffraction network are projected; one-dimensional diffraction grating with known period; LASER pointer semiconductor; Arduino Uno board with electronic circuit that communicates with the computer via USB; computer. The Arduino platform for technical equipment is recommended for the educational process. Taking into account the ease of programming and its ability to study physical processes in real time, it is proposed to use Arduino boards in the modernization of automated general physics didactic laboratories manipulated remotely.

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