STEM PROJECT “COMPUTER-BASED REFRACTOMETER WITH LIQUID PRISM” BASED ON COLORKIT SOFTWARE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.28925/2414-0325.2025.192Keywords:
educational experiment, refractometer, liquid prism, computer processing of visual data, CMOS, STEM, DIYAbstract
The ColorKit project originated about 15 years ago as a free tool for processing photographic and video data for scientific purposes. It is primarily intended for educational and research projects in the fields of chemistry and biology and is used by students of the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine as well as degree seekers at the H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University. Thanks to its simple, intuitive interface and flexible configuration options, a number of original devices have been developed on its basis, including colorimeters, refractometers, spectrophotometers, and nephelometers. Creating DIY devices for physicochemical analysis requires in-depth knowledge of analytical chemistry, the fundamentals of optics, geometry, electrical engineering, and computer technologies. The incorporation of DIY projects into the educational process fosters the development of sustainable competencies and teamwork skills.
At the Department of Physics and Chemistry of H.S. Skovoroda KhNPU, several homemade refractometers have been designed and tested together with degree seekers and students of the Junior Academy of Sciences. These include a simple demonstration refractometer, a V-prism refractometer, a liquid-prism refractometer, and an original device whose operating principle is based on changes in the magnification of a lens in contact with a solution. Such projects integrate natural and mathematical sciences at a deep level, including physics, chemistry, geometry, mathematics, and biology.
This article examines the organization of a STEM project aimed at creating a computer-based refractometer with a liquid-filled prism. Recent research and publications are analyzed, the design features of modern refractometers are described, and the prospects for implementing optical schemes in DIY refractometers are discussed. A functional prototype of a homemade computer-based flow refractometer with a liquid-filled prism is presented. The absence of lenses between the sensor and the cuvette prevents image distortion by the webcam optics, thereby increasing measurement accuracy. The mathematical justification of the device’s optical scheme is provided. The results of prototype testing are also presented. It is shown that the refractive-index measurements of glycerol solutions obtained with the device do not differ significantly from those obtained using the RPL-3 refractometer.
The developed flow refractometer enables sufficiently accurate measurement of refractive indices across a wide range of values, making it a promising tool for DIY projects related to the development of computer-controlled distillation systems, substance synthesis, biological research, and the analysis of food products and plant materials.
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