Rüchardt’s experiment treated by Fourier transform.

It is well known that topics in physics which rely heavily on mathematics can present difficulties for graduate students; for example, problems involving the application of the Fourier transform. To overcome some related difficulties, an integrated approach where physics, mathematics and laboratory activities are strongly interconnected can be helpful. In this view, the present paper describes a device and a data analysis approach whose physics and mathematics facets are jointly taken into account. More specifically, we shall deal with a revised Rüchardt’s device, a topic that plays an important role in the physics curriculum, and we shall introduce the Fourier transform operator in order to extract the average oscillation frequency, thus avoiding computation of the average period of oscillations in the time space. Within this framework, it is shown how the use of the Fourier transform furnishes a straightforward measure of the experiment’s relevant physical quantities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]