Development of a remotely controlled experiment and a three-dimensional simulator to demonstrate the inverse-square law

This work presents results related to the development and validation of a remotely controlled experiment and a three-dimensional simulator, aimed at the practical study of the inverse square law of distance. The prototype creation steps consisted in the manufacture of the physical mechanisms, hardware and software necessary for the communication and control between the user and the experiment through a device with internet access, making it possible to measure the luminous intensity of a light source that gradually moves away of a photoresistor (LDR, “Light Dependent Resistor”). The simulator development stages were divided into 3D graphic modeling of all components and interaction programming, animation and data simulation, thus creating the application for Android devices. The prototype validation was performed using statistical analysis and error propagation, in addition to comparing the data obtained with a lux meter. The results were satisfactory for the validation of the prototype and the quality of the experimental practice tools, due to the relative low cost spent and its potential for use.

Keywords:
Remote Experimentation; Three-dimensional simulations; Inverse square law