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Hooke's Law and The Spring Constant

This document describes an experiment to test Hooke's Law using a spring. Hooke's Law states that the force needed to compress or extend a spring is proportional to the distance of compression or extension. The experiment involves collecting data on spring displacement under different forces and spring constants. A graph of force versus displacement will yield the spring constant as its slope if the spring obeys Hooke's Law. The results are analyzed to understand how spring constant influences displacement and determine the spring's strength.

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Juan Carlos Mejia Macias
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1K views

Hooke's Law and The Spring Constant

This document describes an experiment to test Hooke's Law using a spring. Hooke's Law states that the force needed to compress or extend a spring is proportional to the distance of compression or extension. The experiment involves collecting data on spring displacement under different forces and spring constants. A graph of force versus displacement will yield the spring constant as its slope if the spring obeys Hooke's Law. The results are analyzed to understand how spring constant influences displacement and determine the spring's strength.

Uploaded by

Juan Carlos Mejia Macias
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PHYSICS

Hooke’s Law Experiment


Objectives:
1) Recording values of spring constant, spring force and displacement.
2) Determining how the spring constant influences the displacement.
3) Understanding what the spring constant suggests about the strength of the
spring used.
4) Obtaining the relationship between applied force and displacement using
graphical method.
Theory:
1. Hooke's law states that the force needed to extend or compress a spring by some
distance scales linearly with respect to that distance.
2. If a spring obeys Hooke's law, then a graph of applied force against extension will be
a straight line, whose gradient (slope) is k:
3. The equation of the straight line is:
F=k x
Wherein,
F= stretching force applied to the spring
k = spring constant
x = extension of the spring

Procedure:
1. Enter the simulation using the link:
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/hookes-law/latest/hookes-
law_en.html
2. Click on Intro.
3. Set a constant value of 50 N for Applied Force and different values for
spring constant as the ones given in the table below. Record the varying
displacement in each trial.
4. Express your observations by answering the questions.
5. In part-2, change the values for applied force in each trial and record the
corresponding displacements. Plot a graph for Applied Force Vs.
Displacement.
6. Find the slope (k-Spring Constant) and evaluate the percentage error.
Table of Results
Part-1:
Trial No. Applied Force Spring Constant Displacement (m)
(N) (N/m)
1. 50 100

2. 50 300

3. 50 500

4. 50 700

Questions

1. How does the spring constant influence the displacement? Do they


increase or decrease together?

2. What does a higher value of k and a lower value of k tell about the
strength of the spring? (Hint: In which case is it soft or stiff?)
Part-2: Now, change the values of applied Force and record the displacement
for each observation.

Trial No. Applied Force (N) Displacement (m)


(Y-axis) (X-axis)

1. 20

2. 30

3. 50

4. 70

Paste the graph


The slope gives the value of k (Spring Constant)
Slope (k exp) = Spring constant (k real) =

Percentage error δ%=

Questions
1) How is the relationship between applied force and displacement? Does it approve
Hooke’s Law?

2) A horizontal spring has a spring constant of 80.0 N/m. What force must be applied to
the spring to compress it by 4.0 cm?

3) A spring is stretched 0.50 m and the force was 30000 N. What is the spring constant?

CONCLUSION

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