Physics Lab #10

Name:___________________
Date:____________________

Spring Constant of a Pen Lab

Vocabulary:

Spring Constant

Elastic Potential Energy

Gravitational Potential Energy

Formulas:
Elastic Potential Energy

Gravitational Potential Energy

Materials:
Ruler, Pair of Click Pens
Procedure:

Step 1: Obtain a pair of pens

Step 2: Place the “clicker” on the table. Make sure the pen point is outside
the socket to make it bounce.

Step 3 : Release the pen allowing it to bounce, measure the height (cm) of
the bounce with your ruler. Repeat 5 times and get an average
height. Check with instructor to verify your method

Step 4: Determine the average height of the bounce

Step 5: Use the formula for GPE to determine potential energy of pen

Step 6: Use the formula for EPE to determine the spring constant, k.

Calculations:

Pen 1 Pen 2

k= k=