How does temperature affect the tension in a spring?

I. Introduction and Purpose

I have always been interested in the way temperature affects the structure of physical objects

in daily life. When I was younger, it was a hobby of mine to watch videos on YouTube of steak

being dipped in liquid nitrogen and shattered like glass, or a superheated piece of metal being

bent like clay. These observations fascinated me. How can a solid have such variable properties

just from an increase in kinetic energy? While such extreme changes in temperature are hard to

produce in an average high school lab, the way temperature affects rigidity can still be

investigated with a more moderate temperature range. My goal with this paper is to investigate

these properties through the way the tension within a spring varies with temperature, and more

importantly, the reasons for change. A few implications of the rigidity and potential load of

metals include construction, aircraft, and space travel.

II. Background and Design

Background

The tension force of a spring is negatively proportional to the displacement of the spring

as stated by Hooke’s Law:

F s=−kx

Where:

F s= The spring force (N)

X= The displacement of the spring from its equilibrium position (m)

K= The spring constant (N/m)

The negative sign in Hooke’s law represents that the force vector is in the opposite

direction to the displacement vector. Equilibrium position refers to the position in which zero

Newtons of applied force are acting upon the spring. The spring constant is a ratio of force per

displacement. This investigation will discover the variation in this ratio with temperature,

measured in degrees Celsius (°C).

Design

The independent variable is the temperature T, of the spring. The dependent variable is the

measured tension of the spring, F s, when extended to a constant length of 10cm. The spring’s

temperature was increased by the use of an electronic heat bath and measured by an analog thermometer.

One temperature increment T< 0 was achieved with the use of a freezer. The force of the spring was

measured using a Pasco force sensor connected to a computer with Pasco software installed.
 Controlled Variable
Extension from equilibrium
position, 10 cm
Place of experiment
Heating time
Fixed extension points
Use of the same materials
Why it is important to control
Since the force of the spring is
proportional to displacement, having a
different displacement between trials
would produce poor data
The trials were conducted in the same
room at school, as to ensure the ambient
room temperature remained as consistent
as possible, so as not to cause inconsistent
heat loss in the time it takes to complete a
trial.
Each time the water in the heat bath
reached a different temperature, the spring
was left to soak for 3 minutes longer to
ensure thermal equilibrium occurred, so
that the thermometer read the actual
temperature of the spring.
A nail attached to the apparatus was used
to hook into the spring, as to minimize
human error via inconsistent stabilization
of the 10cm displacement.
The same thermometer, force sensor,
apparatus, and spring were used
throughout all trials as to ensure that any
systematic error was constant across trials.

(Chart A)

Preliminary testing

One spring was used throughout all trials instead of different springs for each temperature

increment. This choice was made during my baseline testing where I discovered that the

variation in the spring constant between different springs of the same type at room temperature

was upwards of 5N/m. Using multiple springs would produce very inconsistent results, as the

change in stiffness due to temperature would be obscured by the difference in stiffness at

baseline, and adjusting for this would require unnecessary calculations.

III. Procedure and Safety

Materials
  1 electric heat bath

 1 pair of rubber gloves

 1 spring with a constant of 73.2N/m at room temperature (22°C)

 Distilled water

 1 nail

 1 wooden plank (0.8m x 0.3m x 0.03m)

 1 MacBook

 1 Pasco force sensor

 1 USB adapter

 A roll of paper towel

 A timer app

 Pasco Capstone software

 1 Marker

 1 Ruler

 Microsoft Excel

 1 freezer

 1 pair of tongs

Procedure

1. Put the room temperature spring onto the apparatus

 2. Attach one side of the spring to the nail

3. Attach the other side of the spring to the force sensor

4. Move the force sensor until the spring is extended to its final displacement (10cm)

5. Note the force of tension as measured on the computer

6. Put spring in heat bath, then raise temperature to a desired increment

7. Once temperature is reached, leave the spring for 3 minutes, then repeat steps 2-5

8. Repeat step 6 and 7 for 4 trials per temperature increment

*For temperature increments below 0°C, the spring was left in the freezer overnight. Since I had

no way to measure a value below 0°C, I found the average freezer temperature online and used

that as my x value. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/are-you-storing-food-safely

Safety/Ethical/Environmental Issues

I did not confront any ethical issues in my investigation. The main safety issue to consider is

the higher temperature values, since they can cause burns when handled. When handling

temperature values above 40 degrees, I used rubber tongs to take the spring out of the heat bath

and wore gloves to touch it. An environmental issue is the unnecessary use of electricity, which I

tried to mitigate by unplugging the heat bath when not in use.

IV. Hypothesis

At a fixed length, as temperature (C°) increases, the force of tension (N) across the spring

will decrease, therefore the spring constant will also decrease by the gradient of the slope.
 V. Analysis

Raw data

Temperature (C°) Tension (N)

-18 7.409 7.389

22 7.321 7.315 7.313 7.338

23 7.346 7.312 7.316 7.321

35 7.281 7.250 7.243 7.264

41 7.233 7.264 7.239 7.241

52 7.219 7.214 7.223 7.214

61 7.206 7.198 7.214 7.194

74 7.189 7.193 7.197 7.163

82 7.147 7.168 7.156 7.139

91 7.092 7.065 7.090 7.114

The raw data suggests a strong relationship between an increase in temperature and a

decrease on the force exerted by the spring per unit of displacement. There are only two trials for

the –18°C interval because the spring had to be left in the freezer overnight, and there were

limited days available to access the lab.

Uncertainties

When measuring the force of the spring on the Pasco sensor, the reading “jumped” (both

positively and negatively) consistently by about 0.02N with no change in extension. Therefore,

the uncertainty of the Y values is ± 0.02 N . For the X values, finding the uncertainties is more
complex. The thermometer reads in increments of whole degrees and based on what the eye can

see, I estimated the measurement uncertainty to be about 1/10 of a degree (± 0.1° C ¿. If the value

on the thermometer was any further than this away from the nearest degree, I rejected the trial

and started again. However, there is also the factor of ambient loss of kinetic energy due to heat

transfer. Assuming the ambient air temperature to be about 21°C, Newton’s Law of Cooling tells

us:

T(t) = Ts + (To – Ts) e-kt

Where:
t=time
T(t) = temperature of the given body at time t
Ts = surrounding temperature
To = initial temperature of the body
k = constant

This formula states that the larger the difference between the temperature of the body and the

surrounding temperature, the faster the body will cool - as a product of this difference. This

means my hotter temperature trials should have a larger horizontal uncertainty than my cooler

trials. Unfortunately, I did not acquire the time data for each trial needed to calculate superb

uncertainty values. To correct this, I found the difference between my largest X value, 91°C and

room temperature 22°C, which is 69°C. I then multiplied that difference by 0.05 uncertainty per

degree to get ±3.45°C. With the ±0.1°C added, we get ±3.55°C, rounded to 1 s.f. is ±4°C. This

uncertainty was used for all X values. This is as certain as I can be without Newton’s Cooling

Law.

Data processing

Temperature (C°) Force (N)

-18± 4 7.40± 0.02
22± 4 7.32± 0.02
23± 4 7.32± 0.02
 35± 4 7.26± 0.02
41± 4 7.24± 0.02
52± 4 7.22± 0.02
61± 4 7.20± 0.02
74± 4 7.19± 0.02
82± 4 7.15± 0.02
91± 4 7.09± 0.02

(Chart C. – rounded data values with uncertainties)

Hooke’s law (negative sign ignored as it is not relevant here):

Fs
=k
0.1 m
Dividing by the constant length of extension yields:
10 F s=N /m
Therefore, the spring constant (N/m) is equal to 10 times the measured force in my data set. All
Y values and uncertainties were multiplied by 10.
Temperature (C°) Force per meter (N/m)
-18± 4 74.0± 0.2
22± 4 73.2± 0.2
23± 4 73.2± 0.2
35± 4 72.6± 0.2
41± 4 72.4± 0.2
52± 4 72.2± 0.2
61± 4 72.0± 0.2
74± 4 71.9± 0.2
82± 4 71.5± 0.2
91± 4 70.9± 0.2
 Spring constant(N/m) vs. Temperature(°C)
75

74 x + 73.65
f(x) = − 0.03

73

72

71

70

69
-40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100

The line of best fit slope is a very good fit, and the data points are grouped nicely.

In this case the y intercept is an arbitrary value that represents the projection of the best fit line
over T=0, and is only relevant to this particular spring.
y = -0.0271x + 73.6
Can be arranged as:

K=73.6−0.0271(T )

K ∝−T

The meaning of the slope is that the spring constant decreases linearly by the product of

temperature and a factor of approximately -0.0271, and is proportional to the negative

temperature of the spring.

 VI. Evaluation and Conclusion

My main source of error in this experiment was from lacking the insight to record times

for each trial. Doing so would have allowed me to use Newton’s Cooling Law and get more

precise data points. The accuracy would also be improved by this, however less than precision.

My slope and data groupings are strong and demonstrate a clear trend.

This graph by Sartor Sandia National Laboratories demonstrates the relationship between the
constant of an Elgiloy spring and temperature. In their study, as temperatures increase past
500°C, the spring constant decreases steeply. For temperatures lower than 500°C a very shallow
negative linear relationship can be seen, which is in agreement with my findings.

Suggestions I would make to repeat this experiment would be to use a more precise digital

thermometer, record time, and find a way to increase data range upwards of 100°C to see a larger

trend.
 In conclusion, my data strongly supports my hypothesis and demonstrates how the spring

constant is affected by temperature, speaking directly to my research question. The trends I

discovered are supported by the accepted body of shared scientific knowledge and are well

documented phenomena. All these factors considered, I feel my results are satisfactory and that

while room for increased precision and accuracy, my data answers my research question.

Bibliography:
Werner, B. T., Antoun, B. R., & Sartor, G. B. (2015, March 01). Thermal Degradation of
Extension Springs. Retrieved from https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1241122

Commissioner, O. O. (n.d.). Are You Storing Food Safely? Retrieved from

https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/are-you-storing-food-safely