Can ADXL335 measure linear aceleration and deceleration in one plane?

In playing with an Arduino with an ADXL335, I can calibrate the sensor and get readings
as I tilt the board on the X and Y axis.

But... how do I measure acceleration instead of tilt?

Example. Lay the board flat on a desk. Push it in the X direction... I want to measure the force of the acceleration. Now stop pushing it... I want to measure the force of the deceleration.

If I hook up an serial port and try this, I see no change at all in the X, Y, or Z readings.
If I pick the board up and tilt it... I see changes as I tilt about the X or Y axis. But where's the force (Luke?) of acceleration in one direction?

Please send help....

My guess is you are not sampling often enough. The "push" you are giving the object lasts for a very short time, especially if it is low in mass, so it really observes an acceleration for a very brief time. When the object is in motion at constant speed, of course, the acceleration is 0.

You can try a "triggered" approach in which your software samples the accelerometer as fast as possible and only starts saving values to an array when it notices a value above some threshold. Then, after the array is filled up, print it to the screen (printing takes a "long" time and will slow down your sampling).

--
Beat707: MIDI drum machine / sequencer / groove-box for Arduino

Check your connections. What's it reading in the z direction? Can you post the code you're using?

I work with LFN and the BMA180 and the MMA7361 and the ADXCL335 -- earlier.

Just graph the output -- you will see the signals.

The ADXL335 is a 3G accelerometer. For such small changes the BMA180 is a better choice -- down to 1.5 g at full scale.

Sometimes you have to employ filters because the units all produce some noise.

With the BMA180 you can detect seismic events easily. The MMA7361L needs a little more filtering.