Determining viscosity of a liquid with smartphone sensors: A classroom-friendly approach using damped oscillations

• Sanjoy Kumar Pal ^[1] ; Pradipta Panchadhyayee ^[2]
  1. [1] Anandapur High School, Anandapur, India, and Institute of Astronomy Space and Earth Science, Kolkata, India
  2. [2] Prabhat Kumar College, Contai, India, and Institute of Astronomy Space and Earth Science, Kolkata, India;
• Localización: The Physics Teacher, ISSN 0031-921X, Vol. 63, Nº. 1, 2025, págs. 64-65
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This study presents a classroom-friendly method for measuring the coefficient of viscosity of a liquid using a smartphone’s accelerometer sensor. A metallic ball tied with a spring–mass system and submerged in mustard oil undergoes damped oscillations due to viscous forces. The Phyphox app is used to record the temporal variation of acceleration, from which the damping constant is calculated to determine the coefficient of viscosity of the oil. The experimentally obtained value is further validated using the Tracker app, and this value is shown to be in close agreement with the standard literature. This method provides an accurate, low-cost experiment ideal for educational settings, using smartphone sensors for viscosity measurement.