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A simple experimental tool to measure the gravitational acceleration based on rotating fluid has built using Arduino, motor DC and optocoupler sensor. The principle of physics concept underlying this experiment is a rotating fluid forms a parabolic surface. The variables that affected the parabolic surface of rotating fluid are angular velocity, gravitational acceleration and the radius of cylinder. If we find the angular velocity and the height of parabolic surface, we can measure the gravitational acceleration. We used Arduino and optocoupler sensor to measure the angular velocity of rotating fluid in a cylinder, while the height of parabolic surface was measured using a ruler. A controlled motor DC was used to rotate the fluid in a cylinder. We obtained the gravitational acceleration equals to 9.75±0.26 m/s² from this experiment. This low cost system can be used as a new experimental tool in physics undergraduate laboratory.

Arduino; gravitational acceleration; optocoupler; rotating fluid.