Gravity acceleration: Analysis of didactic experiments

Abstract

It is possible to determine experimentally the value of the acceleration of gravity by different experiments, from the simplest to the most complex. The aim of the article is to provide assistance for the professor's decision making regarding their teaching approach. These experiments present significant variations with respect to the accuracy of the experimental value found, apparatus and technologies used, experiment precision among other aspects. We present four experiments that will be compared with each other regarding: accuracy, sources of uncertainty and technologies used to carry out the experiment. The best performing experiment used a simple pendulum.

Keywords:
Experimental physics; physics teaching; gravity