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104 SCIPAD - BIG IDEAS - BOOK 2
CIRCUITS AND MAGNETS
Accelerometers
Most cellphones can ‘sense’ when they are tilted from side to side and in doing so, automatically
switch the screen layout from portrait to landscape. This is because they contain an electrical
component called an accelerometer.
Accelerometers contain a silicon fibre that is anchored at one end. This fibre is evenly spaced in
an electric field between two sensors. Movement of the device causes the silicon fibre to move
closer to one of the two sensors. This causes a change in the electric field that the sensors are able
to detect.
Most devices contain at least three accelerometers. There is one accelerometer for each axis: X,
Y and Z. In other words, there is one for up and down, one for left and right, and one for forward
and backward. These small devices can measure tiny amounts of movement, all the way up to
forces many times the force of gravity.
Silicon
fibre
Acceleration
(direction of movement)
Inside the phone
is a microchip
containing an
accelerometer.
Magnified Model of an Accelerometer
1. Using your own words, describe what an ‘accelerometer’ is. 


2. Outline why a phone usually contains three accelerometers. 


3. Name another electronic device (apart from phones) that might use accelerometers.

4. Using your imagination, describe another use for an accelerometer. 






Sensor
Sensor
S
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F
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Electric Field
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