Hooke’s law

Principle

The validity of Hooke's law is determined for two helical springs with different spring
constants. The elongation of the helical spring, which depends on the deforming force, is
studied by means of the weights of masses. For comparison, a rubber band, for which no
proportionality exists between the exerted force and the resulting elongation, is submitted to the
same forces.

A helical spring is a very simple example of an elastic body. In addition, if deviations

from the equilibrium position L0 of the helical spring are not very large, the restoring force FR of
the spring is found to be proportional to its elongation (or to its compression)

 Where the minus sign shows that this force is in the opposite direction of the force that’s
stretching or compressing the spring.
 D is called the spring constant, which measures how stiff and strong the spring is. L is
the distance the spring is stretched or compressed away from its equilibrium or rest
position.

This is Hooke’s law or the linear law of forces, where the proportionality constant D, which is a
general magnitude of reference, is called the spring constant in the case of a helical spring.
If an exterior force acts on the spring, such as the weight FW = m ・ g of a mass m (g = 9.81
m/s2: acceleration of terrestrial gravity) in this experiment, a new stable equilibrium is reached
for the length of the spring l1, for which the weight mass m is equal to the restoring force of the
spring:
Weight Fw of a mass m which acts on the helical spring, plotted as a function of elongation %l
for a helical spring with constant D = 3 N/m.

 We call the difference in length between the new length and the length
without any weight on the spring the extension of the spring.
The bigger the force the bigger the extension.
Please enter your data in the table below:

Equilibrium Final Mass Acceleration Force acts on Spring Constant

position Position (Kg) of terrestrial the spring. D
(L-L0) gravity FW
L0 L g = 9.81 m/s2 FW = m ・ g
15 15.082 0.082 0.15 9.81 1.4715 17.9451

15 15.11 0.11 0.20 9.81 1.962 17.8364

15 15.163 0.163 0.30 9.81 2.943 18.055

Please enter your data in the table below:

Length (cm) Extension (cm) Mass (g)

15 0 0

15 0.082 150g

15 0.11 200g

15 0.163 300g
F = -kx
F = restoring force of the spring (directed toward equilibrium)
k = spring constant (units N/m)
x = displacement of the spring from its equilibrium position
Springs have their own natural "spring constants" that define how stiff they are. The letter k is
used for the spring constant, and it has the units N/m. 

Example 1: Find the spring constant of a spring if it requires a 9000 N force to pull it 30.0 cm
from equilibrium.

The formula can be rearranged to solve for the spring constant, D:

In this question, a 9000 N force is pulling on a spring.

That means that the spring pulls back with an equal and opposite force of -9000 N. The
displacement is 30.0 cm = 0.30 m.

Solution:

−F
k=
x

−(−9000)
k=
0.30 m

k =30,000

So, the spring constant is 30,000.

Example 2: A 3500 N force is applied to a spring that has a spring constant of k = 14 000
N/m. How far from equilibrium will the spring be displaced?
Answer: The displacement can be found by rearranging the formula:

In this question, a 3500 N force is pulling on a spring. That means that the spring pulls back
with an equal and opposite force of -3500 N.
Solution:
 −(−3500)
x=
14000

x=0.250 m

x=250 cm

It means that the sprin will displace by 250 cm or 0.250 m.