Utilization and development of a computer program to perform image analysis for studying topics of classical mechanics

Abstract

Lab classes are very important to emphasize concepts introduced in lectures. The advances of video technology and the simplicity to obtain digital images from analog sources have permitted to apply them as a pedagogical complement in lab classes. In order to use digital videos, the experiments are recorded using a VHS camera and then converted in a standard digital video format, like the AVI. The movie can be played frame by frame, and the coordinates of a given point can be obtained by clicking in the video window, allowing the construction of many kinds of kinematical graphs. In the same way, stroboscopic pictures can be digitized and the coordinates of certain points can be easily obtained. This work is regarding the possibilities of using digital movies and pictures as a complementary activity performed by the students in physics classes. It will be also discussed about the steps that have to be followed to create and to use digital video in the classroom. Finally, it is shown a computer program that was developed at UNIFEI, devoted to analyze digital images (movies and pictures). This computer program is going to be applied in activities that are proposed to freshmen engineering. At the end, some examples of movies and pictures analyzed using the computer program are going to be exploited.