Richard Macias

Title of Work:

Using Arduino to Research Supercapacitors and Physics Pedagogy

Abstract:

The Arduino is a microcontroller circuit that can be manipulated to do anything you can imagine. In this project, the Arduino was used for two things: to practice the methodology of learning physics and to investigate supercapacitors, which are devices that store and release energy in circuits. At the beginning of the internship at the University of Jaén, I learned the code and functions of the Arduino. In addition, circuits were created that helped demonstrate concepts in physics, such as magnetism. Results were then shown to high school students to help teach them some physics concepts. In the second part of the internship, we investigate the rates of discharge and charge of supercapacitors using the Arduino. To do this, I had to charge and discharge different supercapacitors and compare the discharge rates between them. We now know that the rates of supercapacitors depend on the geometry of the supercapacitor, so it could be very useful to find an equation that applies to all supercapacitors. This work is very important because it can help us understand the best way to teach physics, which can lead to a better understanding of physics in the future.

Title of Work (IGP Language):

Usando el Arduino para investigar los supercondensadores y la pedagogía de física

Abstract (IGP Language):

El Arduino es un circuito de microcontroladores que puede ser manipulado para hacer cualquier cosa que se imagine. En este proyecto, el Arduino fue usado para dos cosas: para practicar la metodología del aprendizaje de la física y para investigar los supercondensadores, que son aparatos que guardan y sueltan energía en circuitos. Al comienzo de la pasantía en la Universidad de Jaén, aprendí el código y las funciones del Arduino. Además, se crearon circuitos que ayudaron a demostrar conceptos en la física, como el magnetismo. A continuación, se mostraron resultados a los estudiantes de la escuela secundaria para ayudar a enseñarles algunos conceptos de la física. En la segunda parte de la pasantía, investigamos los ritmos de la descarga y carga de los supercondensadores usando el Arduino. Para hacer esto, tenía que cargar y descargar supercondensadores diferentes y comparar los ritmos de descarga entre los supercondensadores. Actualmente, sabemos que los ritmos de los supercondensadores dependen de la geometría del supercondensador, de manera que podría ser muy útil encontrar una ecuación que aplique a todos los supercondensadores. Este trabajo es muy importante porque puede ayudarnos a entender la mejor manera de enseñar física, que puede causar un entendimiento mejor de la física en el futuro.

Elevator Pitch Video

Elevator Pitch Transcript:

Hello, my name is Richard Macias, and I am a 5th year student at NAU. I am majoring in physics and modern languages with a Spanish emphasis, and minoring in math. I spent my year abroad in Jaén, or Jaén as they would say, studying at the University of Jaén. Jaén is a small quiet town, I’ve heard it referred to as the olive oil capital of the world, which makes sense because it is literally surrounded by olive trees. I think the simple life and easygoing attitude in the town made it easy for me to find peace and comfort, which made the transition a bit easier and less stressful. Anyway, during my year abroad, I was lucky enough to have found an internship pretty quickly in the physics department. When I found my mentor, I just jumped into the research he was doing. He was doing research in two areas: physics education and supercapacitors. However, for both of these areas of research, we were taking full advantage of the Arduino, which is a circuit of microcontrollers that you can manipulate to do whatever you can imagine. In the physics education research, which was the majority of the second semester, we were looking for ways to create experiments that demonstrated concepts in physics so that we can improve physics pedagogy for high school students. The concepts we chose to demonstrate were concepts in magnetism, such as polarity and the Biot-Savart law, which is an equation that describes the magnetic field that appears when there is a current. We then disseminated our results to high school students in nearby towns to see if our experiments helped them learn these concepts.

Then, later in the second half of my year abroad, I started doing research into supercapacitors, which is something in an electrical circuit that stores and releases energy really well, hence the “super”. Right now we know that the capacitance, which is the ability for something to store electric charge, and therefore energy, depends on the geometry of the capacitor. So what my mentor and I were trying to do was figure out an equation that can be applied to all capacitors, regardless of the geometry. To find this equation, we manipulated the Arduino so that it would measure the charging and discharging rates of various capacitors, and we compared the results.

Studying and doing research in Jaén was extremely rewarding. Although it was hard at times, being able to stick with it and thrive showed me what I am capable of. I am very grateful for this experience, for the support of my mentors, and for the support of igp. Because of this experience, I feel much more mentally strong, much more competent, and much more complete, as a Chicano who was not fluent in Spanish at all a year ago. Thank you for your time.

Digital Poster