Hooke's Law

Hooke’s law also referred to as the law of elasticity was discovered by

an English scientist named Robert Hooke in the year 1660. Hooke’s law
basically states that “when an object has a relatively small deformation
the size of the deformation is directly proportional to the deforming load
or force.”
Besides, Hooke’s law is a great example to describe the property of
elasticity – which is a tendency of an object or material to be restored to
its original shape after some form of distortion. The ability to return to a
normal or original shape can be described as a “restoring force”.
Explained more clearly by Hooke’s Law, this restoring force is said to
be proportional to the “stretch” that is experienced.
Hooke’s law can be usually taken as a first-order linear approximation
only to the response that springs and other elastic bodies offer when
force is applied. The law will eventually fail after certain conditions. It
fails usually when the forces exceed some limit, the material reaches its
minimum compressibility size or its maximum stretching size.
Alternatively, there will also be some permanent deformation or change
of state once the thresholds are crossed. In fact, some of the materials
will mostly start deviating from Hooke’s law much before those limits
are met.
Meanwhile, we can also say that Hooke’s law is an accurate
approximation for most solid bodies. However, this will mainly depend
on the forces and deformations wherein they should be very small. As a
result, Hooke’s law is used in many different branches of science and
engineering. It is also the foundation of many disciplines such
as molecular mechanics, seismology and acoustics. This law is further
the most fundamental principle behind the galvanometer, spring scale,
manometer and balance wheel of a mechanical clock.

Hooke’s Law Statement

When a material behaves elastically and exhibits a linear relationship
between stress and strain, it is called linearly elastic material. In this
case, stress is directly proportional to strain.
OR
You can say that “for small deformation, stress is directly proportional
to strain”
Therefore, in simple terms, Hooke’s law states that the strain in a solid
is proportional to the applied stress within the elastic limit of that solid.

Hooke’s Law Equations

Hooke’s equation holds in many situations where an elastic body
is deformed. The instances may include the wind blowing on a
tall building or a musician playing the guitar. The equation is said
to be linear-elastic or Hookean usually for an elastic body or
material.

Hooke’s Law Equation in Terms of Stress and Strain

According to this law, within the elastic limit, stress is
proportional to the strain. Thus, Hooke’s Law equation can be
expressed in terms of stress and strain;
Stress α Strain or stress / strain = constant = E
Stress = Young’s modulus of elasticity × Strain
σ=Eε
Where,
σ is the stress,
E is the modulus of elasticity also known as Young’s modulus of
elasticity,
ε is the strain.
In SI units, the spring constant k, and each element of the
tensor κ, is measured using units such as newtons per meter
(N/m), or kilograms per second squared (kg/s2).
For continuous media, each element is therefore measured in
units of pressure, namely pascals (Pa, or N/m2, or kg/(m·s2). The
elements of the strain tensor ε are also expressed in units of
pressure.

For Linear Springs

Mathematically, Hooke’s law states that the applied
force F equals a constant k, into the displacement or change in
length x, or F = kx. The value of k depends not only on the kind of
elastic material under consideration but also on its dimensions
and shape.
All materials exhibit some degree of elasticity. Due to this elastic
property, an excellent concept of restoring force comes into the
picture. We can measure this elasticity property in the form of a
restoring force. This restoring force opposes the deformation
force and tries to maintain the original dimensions of the
material.
Now, consider the elasticity in only one dimension. To verify
Hook’s Law on this spring-mass system we need to find the
relation between the restoring force and stretch (elongation) for a
spring. As we know, the restoring force is proportional to the
magnitude of the deformation. This restoring force can be written
mathematically as;
F = – kx.
This expression for Hooke’s Law is also known as the spring
constant formula.
Here,
F is restoring force.
x represents the magnitude of the distortion or displacement
from equilibrium as exhibited in the stretching of a spring or
rubber band.
k is the proportionality constant, also known as the spring
constant.
Note – Here the direction of the force is in the direction opposite
that of the displacement, so consider minus sign.

General Scalar Springs

Hooke’s spring law is also applicable to different types of elastic
material or object with random complexity. However, this will
depend on whether the stress and deformation can be
represented by a single number. This number can be either
positive and negative.
For instance, if we take a rubber block and attach it to two plates
(kept in parallel) is distorted by shearing. So, the shearing
force Fs and the sideways displacement of the plates x follow or
adhere to Hooke’s law (small deformations).

Vector Formulation
If we stretch a helical spring or compress it along its axis then
the restoring force, as well as the resulting elongation or
compression, have the same direction. As such, when Fs and x
are defined as vectors then Hooke’s equation will still remain
valid and it will state that the force vector is the elongation vector
multiplied by a fixed scalar.

Applications of Hooke’s Law

The applications of Hooke’s Law is as given below:
• Most commonly, in everyday life, Hooke’s Law is applied in
springs because of their elasticity.
• They are used not only in the engineering field but also used
in the field of medical science.
• It is used in breathing (lungs), skin, spring beds, diving
boards and cars suspension systems.
• It is used as a fundamental principle behind the manometer,
spring scale and balance wheel of the clock.
 • It is also used as the foundation for seismology, acoustics
and molecular mechanics.

Disadvantages of Applying Hooke’s Law

The disadvantages of Hooke’s Law is as follows:
• Hooke’s Law is applied only in the elastic region.
• Hooke’s Law gives accurate results only for solid bodies if

the forces and deformations are small.

• Hooke’s Law is not a universal law.

While we have learnt so much about Hooke’s Law, let us also

understand the subsequent terms which can be used inside the
mechanical properties of solids. Let us quickly go through them.

Important Mechanical Properties of Solids

Stress and Strain

Stress: It is the resistance offered by the body to any
deformation. Mathematically, it can be expressed as the restoring
force per unit area.
Stress = Restoring Force /Area
=F/A
Strain: Deformation per unit length in the direction of
deformation is known as strain.
Strain = Change in length / original length
= ∆L / L
Plasticity: It is the belongings of material by which material does
not regain its original dimension after the removal of deforming
forces. This material goes in inelastic strain. In this case,
permanent deformation occurs.
Elasticity: Elasticity is the property by virtue of which a material
deformed under the influence of load but after the removal of the
deforming load the object tends to recover its original dimension.
If the body completely regains its original shape and size, then it
is called a perfectly elastic body.
Ductility: It is the property of material, which permits material to
be drawn out longitudinally to a reduced cross-sectional area,
because of the application of tensile force. It also can be defined
as the property of material, which permits a material to be drawn
out in the form of wire.
Brittleness: It implies that material cannot be drawn out in the
form of wire. The failure takes place without any significant
deformation
What property is described by Hooke’s Law?
Hooke’s law is the first classical example of an explanation of
elasticity.

Is Hooke’s Law applicable to all elastic materials?

Yes, Hooke’s law is applicable to any elastic object of arbitrary
complexity, as long as a single number can express the
deformation and the stress.

What is the limitation of Hooke’s Law?

While Hooke’s law is applicable to any elastic object but it is not
valid beyond the elastic limit of any material. Hooke’s Law only
works within a limited frame of reference. No material can be
compressed beyond a certain minimum size or stretched beyond
a maximum size. There will be some permanent deformation or
change of state. The law only applies so long as a limited amount
of force or deformation is involved.

Why is Hooke’s Law sometimes negative?

The negative sign is customarily added in Hooke’s Law formula.
This is done mainly to signify that the restoring force due to the
spring is in the opposite direction to the force which caused the
displacement earlier.
General tensor form
Some elastic bodies will deform in one direction when subjected to a
force with a different direction. One example is a horizontal wood beam
with non-square rectangular cross section that is bent by a transverse
load that is neither vertical nor horizontal. In such cases, the magnitude
of the displacement x will be proportional to the magnitude of the force
Fs, as long as the direction of the latter remains the same (and its value
is not too large); so the scalar version of Hooke's law Fs = −kx will
hold. However, the force and displacement vectors will not be scalar
multiples of each other, since they have different directions. Moreover,
the ratio k between their magnitudes will depend on the direction of the
vector Fs.

Yet, in such cases there is often a fixed linear relation between the force
and deformation vectors, as long as they are small enough. Namely,
there is a function κ from vectors to vectors, such that F = κ(X), and
κ(αX1 + βX2) = ακ(X1) + βκ(X2) for any real numbers α, β and any
displacement vectors X1, X2. Such a function is called a (second-order)
tensor.

With respect to an arbitrary Cartesian coordinate system, the force and

displacement vectors can be represented by 3 × 1 matrices of real
numbers. Then the tensor κ connecting them can be represented by a 3 ×
3 matrix κ of real coefficients, that, when multiplied by the
displacement vector, gives the force vector
Schematic of a polymer nanospring. The coil radius, R, pitch, P,
length of the spring, L, and the number of turns, N, are 2.5 μm,
2.0 μm, 13 μm, and 4, respectively. Electron micrographs of the
nanospring, before loading (b-e), stretched (f), compressed (g),
bent (h), and recovered (i). All scale bars are 2 μm. The spring
followed a linear response against applied force, demonstrating
the validity of Hooke's law at the nanoscale.

Stress–strain curve for low-carbon steel, showing the relationship

between the stress (force per unit area) and strain (resulting
compression/stretching, known as deformation). Hooke's law is
only valid for the portion of the curve between the origin and the
yield point (2).
1: Ultimate strength
2: Yield strength (yield point)
3: Rupture
4: Strain hardening region
5: Necking region
A: Apparent stress (F/A0)
B: Actual stress (F/A)