Studying Thermodynamic Processes with Open-Source Hardware and Software Systems

Research in physics education is always open to seizing the opportunities that new technologies can have on the teaching-learning processes. One fascinating area of research centres around students’ capacity to cultivate comprehensive skills across scientific domains. This includes designing homemade experimental equipment and coding scripts to analyse and present data. Open-source hardware (OSH), programmable and automated low-cost electronics, have become widespread in recent years, and they can be used not only as tools to support the measurement processes of physical quantities but also as objects to engineer versatile and unique experimental apparatus. Accompanying this process are Open-Source Software (OSS) simulation platforms and programming languages that allow the writing of codes for programming boards increasingly intuitively. The integration of OSH and OSS systems is spreading significantly in institutions designated for training at all levels of education (Heradio et al. 2018). Over the years, our research group has developed experiences in studying the modelling of physical phenomena through the OSH and OSS apparatus. We will present and discuss the study of thermodynamic transformations, construct a gas thermometer and create thermodynamic cycles using Open Source Hardware (OSH) and Open Source Software (OSS) technologies. In conclusion, we will examine the opportunities that the proposal offers for teaching and learning critical thermodynamic concepts such as ideal gases, cyclic transformations, equilibrium states, and quasi-static and reversible transformations. The present study is intended for teachers and students in the final years of high school and those in university laboratory courses.