RC and RL circuits and smartphones

Marciano Santamaría Lezcano1 E S Cruz de Gracia2, Lucio Strazzabosco Dorneles3 

and Noriel Correa1

Frequency effect on reactance in RC and RL circuits - a smartphone approach

Phys. Educ. 60 (2025) 035033 (8pp) 

DOI: 10.1088/1361-6552/adc8ec

1 Universidad de Panamá, Departamento de Física, Centro de Investigación con Técnicas Nucleares, Panama City, Panama
2 Universidad Tecnológica de Panama, Centro Regional de Veraguas, Veraguas, Panama
3 Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil

emails: evgeni.cruz@utp.ac.pa, marciano.santamaria@up.ac.pa, lucio.dorneles@ufsm.br and noriel.correa@up.ac.pa

Abstract: This paper presents a new and successful methodology for determining the frequency effect on capacitive and inductive reactance in RC and RL series circuits. The key feature in our approach is the practical use of a smartphone as a signal generator and an oscilloscope in alternating current circuits. By generating and visualising the signal using free software applications, we could observe the capacitor's and the inductor's response to frequency variations between 0.1 and 5.0 kHz. The experimental data, analysed within the theoretical capacitive and inductive reactance model, shows excellent agreement with the expected values, instilling confidence in the reliability and feasibility of our methodology. This alignment between experimental and theoretical data not only underscores the potential use of smartphone technology in capacitive and inductive reactance studies but also highlights the practicality of our approach to experimental analysis in science and engineering.

FIG: The connection diagram of (a) RC and (b) RL circuits

shows smartphones working as signal generators and oscilloscopes.

Data availability statement: All data that support the findings of this study are included within the article (and any supplementary files).

Acknowledgments: The authors, M. Santamaría and N. Correa would like to thank the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) for financially supporting the Renovation Program of the Faculty of Natural and Exact Sciences and Technology of the University of Panama, which includes the acquisition of instruments used in this research. E S Cruz de Gracia, an SNI member, thanks the Secretaria Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (SENACYT) for its support. Finally, L.S. Dorneles acknowledges support from CNPq Grant 308277/2021-0.