High resolution stopwatch for cents

TL;DR

This paper introduces a low-cost, high-resolution stopwatch using photodetectors and sound card input, enabling precise measurements in mechanics experiments with an open-source software tool.

Contribution

It presents a novel, affordable method for high-resolution timing in physics experiments using readily available components and open-source software.

Findings

Demonstrated effective use in free fall experiments

Achieved high temporal resolution at low cost

Provided open-source software for easy adoption

Abstract

A very low-cost, easy-to-make stopwatch is presented to support various experiments in mechanics. The high-resolution stopwatch is based on two photodetectors connected directly to the microphone input of the sound card. A dedicated free open-source software has been developed and made available to download. The efficiency is demonstrated by a free fall experiment.