Seeking
to foster the learning process and encourage the active
participation of undergraduate students, this work proposes a new
methodology that involves integrating smartphones into the learning
process under a simple and accessible approach to learning in Chemistry
and Physics laboratories aiming at facilitating the learning of some
chemical concepts, such as thermodynamics and chemical equilibrium.
Using RGB model data collected from images captured by students’
smartphones, the ΔH°, ΔS°, and ΔG° values of a colorimetric
reaction with cobalt complexes were obtained using the equilibrium
constant (K
eq) and the concentrations
of two complex cobalt ions at varying temperatures. The values obtained
from the experiments conducted by the students were in agreement with
those reported in the literature at 95% confidence level. The main
pedagogical objective of this experiment was to show that based on
digital images obtained from a smartphone, one can understand basic
physical-chemistry concepts, taught in undergraduate courses, through
the application of a simple methodology based on a widely accessible,
low-cost technological device, and obtain results similar to those
of UV–vis spectrophotometry. The use of digital images led
to better assimilation of the concepts of reflectance and absorbance.
The students considered the experimental procedure to be positively
surprising, since they could use their smartphones to carry out the
experiment. This work also presents a step-by-step guide for the acquisition
of thermodynamic data using digital images from a smartphone.