Experiments with external sensors
12 classroom-tested activities with the free FizziQ app, for middle and high school, high school.
When the phone has no sensor for a quantity, FizziQ Connect, Arduino or micro:bit modules stream the measurement over Bluetooth to the app: gas concentrations, temperature, mass, force. Instruments in FizziQ: CO₂ and O₂ meters, thermometer, hygrometer, balance, force sensor.
Each activity below has a protocol, expected results, scientific background, a printable PDF handout and a QR code that opens it directly in the app. FizziQ is free on iOS and Android, needs no account, and shows no advertising.
Activities
- Combustion stoichiometry Middle and high school 60 min
Connected O2 and CO2 sensors stream data to FizziQ on a smartphone or tablet while a candle burns in a sealed chamber; students derive the stoichiometric ratio.
- Ideal gas law by barometer High school 30 min
A smartphone sealed in a jar records pressure with the FizziQ barometer as temperature changes, verifying Gay-Lussac's law and estimating absolute zero. High school.
- Radiative effect of CO₂ High school 90 min
Two chambers under one lamp, one enriched in CO₂: SCD40 sensors track temperature and CO₂ while FizziQ records both curves. High school climate experiment.
- Cellular respiration of muscle High school 25 min
High-school biology: fresh beef in a sealed chamber, with CO₂, O₂ and humidity sensors read in FizziQ on smartphone or tablet, shows cellular respiration at work.
- Combustion: tracking O₂ and CO₂ Middle and high school 45 min
A tea light burns in a sealed chamber while O₂ and CO₂ sensors log the reaction: FizziQ on smartphone or tablet shows why the flame dies and what combustion yields.
- Limiting factors: photosynthesis High school 50 min
High school students vary light, temperature or wavelength and follow CO₂ consumption with an SCD40 sensor. FizziQ Connect logs the data on smartphone or tablet.
- Gas exchange of a plant High school 30 min
Sealed in a chamber, plants shift from photosynthesis to respiration: an SCD40 sensor tracks CO₂ in light then darkness, logged by FizziQ Connect on smartphone.
- Solar constant by pyrometer High school 120 min
A blackened pyrometer heats in sunlight while FizziQ Connect logs its temperature on a smartphone; students extrapolate the solar constant by Bouguer's method.
- Thermal convection in water High school 45 min
Two temperature probes linked to the FizziQ app through FizziQ Connect track water heated from below, revealing convection currents up to boiling. High school.
- CO₂ convection under a bell jar Middle and high school 30 min
Three CO2 sensors at different heights under a bell jar record how hot combustion gases rise before denser CO2 sinks, logged with FizziQ on smartphone or tablet.
- Specific energy of vaporization High school 85 min
Boiling water loses mass at a steady rate: a connected balance tracked in FizziQ Connect links power and mass to the latent heat, near 2260 kJ/kg. High school.
- Water clock and Torricelli's law High school 30 min
A pierced bottle drains onto a connected balance; students plot the collected mass m(t) in FizziQ Connect and model the slowing flow with Torricelli's theorem.
Other sensors
accelerometer · microphone · magnetometer · barometer · gyroscope · light sensor · camera · GPS