Magnetic drag and Foucault currents: a low cost experiment with video analysis

Abstract In this work, we present a low-cost experiment to study the phenomenon of magnetic drag. It is a difficult subject to be studied experimentally, especially in schools that do not have a laboratory. The experiment makes possible the discussion about the Faraday's Law and the Foucault currents, in a practical way and using only few physical resources. The data acquisition is carried out through a smartphone. The data processing is performed by the association of a video-analysis tool, the free software Tracker, and a data analysis tool, the free software LibreOfficeCalc. In this way, the experimental activity proposed in this text can be adpated to the most diverse school realities.