Arduino-based STEM education material: work-energy theorem

Abstract

Twenty first century expertise often requires high-level and cross-disciplinary skills that ought to be a part of todays’ educational activities. Therefore, educational undertakings should be designed in such a way that students can gain the desired expertise and skills. The present work offers an Arduino-based STEM education material, specifically designed to teach the work–energy theorem. The designed physical system is experimentally resolved by directly measuring position-time trajectories which lead to instant velocities. Measured instant position values are employed to determine the amount of work and corresponding velocity values are used to determine the instant kinetic energies of the system. Experimental data, on average, lead to a ratio of 0.959 which is reasonable concerning the range of experimental error limits therefore smartly validating the work–energy theorem.