Visualizing beat phenomenon between two amplitude-modulated (AM) light beams on a solar cell using smartphones

TL;DR

This paper introduces a simple, smartphone-based experimental setup to visualize beat phenomena between two amplitude-modulated light beams on a solar cell, making physics experiments more accessible and engaging for students.

Contribution

It presents an innovative, low-cost method using smartphones to demonstrate wave beat phenomena, bridging theoretical models with practical visualization in physics education.

Findings

Good agreement between theory and experiment

Smartphones effectively visualize wave beats

Accessible approach for physics teaching

Abstract

We present a new simple experimental setup for demonstrating beat phenomenon. We have combined two amplitude-modulated light beams on a solar cell using two smartphones as signal generators and a third smartphone as an oscilloscope to visualize the resulting wave beats. A very good agreement is obtained between the theoretical model and the experimental result. It is an innovative approach to bring physics experimentation to the students and discover the potential possibilities of smartphones in basic physics courses.