Title of Lesson: Can All Things Stretch?

RET Project Connection: Failure Modes of Lightweight Sandwich Structures

RET Teacher: Michael Wall

School: Andover High School
Town/District: Andover Public Schools
Subject(s) Taught: Physical Science, Environmental Science

Subjects Covered in Lesson: Physical Science, Physics

Grades Appropriate: 9, 10
Lesson Duration: Two 80-minute class periods

Goals/Objectives of Lesson: At the end of this lesson students should be able to: Use measurements of
force and length to calculate stress and strain of a material; Calculate Young’s modulus of various materials
from laboratory data; Qualify a material’s elasticity based on laboratory data and given values of Young’s
modulus.

Background Information: Students should have prior knowledge of forces, Newton’s laws of motion,
displacement, vectors, the SI system, graphing and basic algebra skills. Students should have basic
laboratory skills to measure mass, weight and length. Hooke’s law allows the elasticity of springs to be
calculated. The same concept in Hooke’s law can be extended to any material using Young’s modulus to
calculate elasticity. Using basic principles of forces, displacement, SI system, basic algebra and graphing,
students should be able to understand and calculate the elasticity of springs and other solid materials.

Essential Questions: Can rigid materials bend or change shape when a force is applied? What makes some
materials more elastic than other materials?

Links to Frameworks and Standards

*ational: Physical Science Standards, Levels 9 – 12, Motion and forces
State: Massachusetts Introductory Physics: 1. Motion and Forces, Broad Concept: Newton’s laws of
motion and gravitation describe and predict the motion of most objects. 1.1 – Compare and contrast
vector quantities (such as, displacement, velocity, acceleration, force, and linear momentum) and
scalar quantities (such as, distance, speed, energy, mass, and work). 1.2 – Distinguish between
displacement, distance, velocity, speed, and acceleration. Solve problems involving displacement,
distance, velocity, speed, and constant acceleration. 1.3 – Create and interpret graphs of 1-
dimensional motion, such as position vs. time, distance vs. time, speed vs. time, velocity vs. time,
and acceleration vs. time where acceleration is constant. 1.5 – Use a free-body force diagram to
show forces acting on a system consisting of a pair of interacting objects. For a diagram with only
co-linear forces, determine the net force acting on a system and between the objects.

Materials Required: Overhead projector, transparency slides, chalk or dry erase markers, springs, masses,
ring stands, graph paper, wooden blocks, marshmallows, plastic from beverage holders, computers with
internet access, TBD

Lesson Development: On day one the students will be introduced to Hooke’s law. The lesson will begin
with an inquiry based activity where the students will predict what happens when masses are added to
different springs of the same length. This will lead to a discussion about elasticity and notes about Hooke’s
law. The students will then work on an activity where they will test the elasticity of various springs and
graph the force versus displacement to find the spring constants. The first day ends with the students
practicing some sample problems about Hooke’s law. Day two reviews the material from the previous day
as well as the homework problems about Hooke’s law. The discussion will move from the elasticity of
springs to the elasticity of any solid material. An introduction to some engineering terms like load, shear
force, axial force, compression, tension and necessary before the discussion of stress, strain and Young’s
modulus. The students will then have an opportunity to find Young’s modulus for a marshmallow using
compression and Young’s modulus of the connective plastic connecting a bundle of beverages. Using the
data of force, area, initial and final lengths of the material, the students can calculate the elasticity of each
sample. Students can then graph their data for another method for obtaining Young’s modulus. Students
will strengthen their understanding with a homework assignment. On the third day the homework about
Young’s modulus will be reviewed and hopefully a short video will be shown. There is also an interactive
website about Young’s modulus that the students will complete so calculate the elasticity of virtual
materials. The lesson will end with an assessment that has yet to be determined. Please see attached lesson
plan and ancillary materials.

References: TBD
 Lesson - Can All Things Stretch?

Day 1

Time Methods *otes to Me

POE
“We have 2 springs of equal length. If we hang Need springs, masses, ruler, ring
the same mass on each spring, what do you expect to stand & clamps
observe? Write down your prediction in your notebook
and a diagram of this setup.”
• Give students a minute or two to write the information Allow sufficient thinking and
in their notebooks. writing time during each step of
• Solicit students’ responses about their predictions. the POE.
• “OK, so now we have to test our predictions. Make
sure you record any observations you see in your
notebooks.”
• Attach the first spring on the stand and hang the mass.
Measure how far the spring stretches. Repeat the same
10 min.
procedure with the second spring.
• “Clearly there is something different between the two
springs. See if you can come up with an explanation
for what you just observed.”
• Solicit students’ responses about their explanations.
• “What seems to be different for the springs is their
elasticity, or their ability to stretch. We can assign a
number for each spring to indicate the elasticity, or
stretchiness, for all springs. As long as we don’t
overstretch a spring, this stretchiness number should
always hold true.”

*otes
Hooke’s Law Need Hooke’s Law overhead

• “We can use the concepts of force and distance to find transparency
out how stretchy a spring can be. The stretchiness of a
20 min.
spring is determined by Hooke’s Law.”
• See Hooke’s Law overhead transparency.

Activity
Hooke’s Law Lab Activity Need materials for Hooke’s law –
• “.ow that we’ve discussed Hooke’s law, lets see if we springs, masses, ruler, ring stands
can put our knowledge to use. For this activity you will & clamps, Hooke’s Law lab
be given some springs and it will be your job to find the overhead transparency
constants. Make sure you record all your data in your
notebooks. Be sure to include a diagram of your
experiment setup.”
35 min. • Students will work in groups for this activity. Group size will depend on class
• Students will be given 2 or 3 different springs. The size and amount of materials.
springs should be labeled.
• Begin by attaching your spring to the ring stand so that
it hangs freely. Measure the initial length of the spring.
• Add a mass to the spring and measure the new
displacement of the spring. Be sure to make sure that
the spring is no bouncing when you take your
 measurement.
• Continue to add masses to the end of the spring and
record each new displacement.
• Use the data from your experiment to make a graph of Finish activity and clean up with
the force vs. displacement. Find the slope of the graph 15 minutes remaining in class.
to calculate the spring coefficient.

Wrap Up
Discussion of what the data and graphs mean

in terms of Hooke’s Law.
• Questions to consider in class discussion:
o Which spring is the most elastic and most
inelastic?
o How does our data help to determine which
spring is most or least elastic?
o What does the slope of the Force vs.
10 min
Displacement tell us?
o Why is there a y-intercept value? What should
it be?
o Do you think that the Hooke’s Law, or the idea
that materials have some amount of elasticity,
only applies to springs? What else do you think
it would apply to?

Homework
Hooke’s Practice Problems Worksheet Need Hooke’s Law Practice

• Write answers on the board. Problems Worksheet and answer
• “I’ve put the answers on the board so that you can sheet
5 min
check your work. Make sure you show all of your work
and follow all problem-solving steps.”
Day 2

Time Methods *otes to Me

RAP
Review of Hooke’s Law and introduces Need RAP overhead
Young’s Modulus. transparency.
10 min • Students work on RAP questions.
• Review answers with class. Check homework while students
work on RAP
Review Homework
Hooke’s Practice Problems Need Hooke’s Law Practice
Worksheet Problems worksheet with
• Students compare their answers with the person answers
next to them.
• “After comparing your answers with your partner,
10 min
if you still want to review a problem, come up
and write that number on the board.”
• Review any problems that are put on the board.
Show all problem-solving steps.

Video
2 short video clips Need 2 short

• “Yesterday we talked about Hooke’s Law and
how we can quantify how much elasticity a spring
has. Today we can use the same idea of Hooke’s
Law to show how other types of materials have
different amounts of elasticity. Even if you can’t
see it with your eyes, all materials exhibit some
2 min
amount of elasticity. We use a concept called
Young’s Modulus to quantify the elasticity of
materials Sometimes you can see the elasticity of
materials and the effects are dramatic.”
• Video clip of tensile steel rebar breaking
• Video clip of Tacoma Narrows Bridge

*otes
Young’s Modulus Need Young’s Modulus overhead

• “Yesterday we talked about Hooke’s Law and transparency.
how we can quantify how much elasticity a spring
has. Today we can use the same idea of Hooke’s
Law to show how other types of materials have
different amounts of elasticity. Even if you can’t
25 min.
see it with your eyes, all materials exhibit some
amount of elasticity. We use a concept called
Young’s Modulus to quantify the elasticity of
materials.”
• See Young’s Modulus overhead transparency.

Activity
Young’s Modulus Lab Activity – Need materials – wooden blocks,

Compression of a marshmallow. masses, marshmallows, graph
• .ow that we have a better understanding of paper, rulers.
35 min.
elasticity let’s practice using Young’s modulus to
calculate elasticity of a familiar material. You
will be working in groups for this activity.
• Students collect materials - four wooden blocks,
one marshmallow, graph paper, masses.
• Students set up three wooden blocks and attach
graph paper to one of the outermost blocks.
• All data should be recorded in the students’
notebooks.
• Calculate the area of the top of the marshmallow.
• Place the last wooden block on top of the
marshmallow and record the height of the block
on the graph paper. Place the first weight on top
of that wooden block and record the new height –
it will be less since the marshmallow is getting
compressed. Continue adding additional masses
on top of the wooden block to further compress
the marshmallow. As each mass is added be sure
to record the new block height.
• Calculate stress, strain and Young’s Modulus.
Finish activity and clean up with
• Graph stress vs. strain and calculate the slope of
the graph. 15 minutes remaining in class.
• Answer questions.

Homework
Finish the Young’s Modulus lab

graph and questions
 Hooke’s Law

• Hooke’s Law
extension (or compression)

of a spring is directly proportional to the force
applied

o Only if the spring is Not overstretched

(inside elastic range)
returns to original
length when force is removed.
 Molecules return to original position
o Spring stretchiness is determined by a
constant, k
 harder to stretch =  constant
o Equation:
F = kd
F
applied force
k
spring constant (unique to each
spring)
d
displacement spring is extended or
compressed
o Force and displacement are linear

 slope = spring constant, k

o Can also be used to find elastic potential
energy (Ee) in a spring:

Ee = ½ kd2
 o Sample Problems:
1. What is the spring constant when a 45 N
force stretches the spring 15 cm?
2. If it takes 50 N of force to stretch a spring 5
cm, how much will the spring stretch if 125
N are applied to the same spring?
3. What is the amount of elastic potential
energy stored in the spring when it is
stretched with 50 N and with 125 N?
 Hooke’s Law Activity
Setup
Procedure
• Begin by attaching your spring to the ring stand so
that it hangs freely. Measure the initial length of
the spring.
• Add a mass to the spring and measure the new
displacement of the spring. Be sure to make sure
that the spring is no bouncing when you take your
measurement.
• Continue to add masses to the end of the spring
and record each new displacement.
• Use the data from your experiment to make a
graph of the force vs. displacement. Find the
slope of the graph to calculate the spring
coefficient.

Data Table

Displacement
Mass (kg) Force (N)
(mm) (m)
Graph Force vs. Displacement
• Force (N)
y-axis
• Displacement (m)
x-axis

Questions
1. Which spring is the most elastic and most inelastic?
2. How does our data help to determine which
spring is most or least elastic?
3. What does the slope of the Force vs. Displacement
tell us?
4. Why is there a y-intercept value? What should it
be?
5. Do you think that the Hooke’s Law, or the idea
that materials have some amount of elasticity, only
applies to springs? What else do you think it would
apply to?
Name _______________________________ Date ________________
Physical Science Block _____

Hooke’s Law Practice Problems

Show ALL work and follow ALL problem-solving steps for the following problems.

1. What force is necessary to stretch an ideal spring whose force constant is 120 N/m by an amount of 30
cm? (36 N)

2. A spring with a constant of 600N/m is used on a scale for weighing fish. What is the mass of a fish that
would stretch the spring by 7.5 cm from its normal length? (4.6 kg)

3. A spring in a pogo stick is compressed 12 cm when a 40 kg girl stands on the stick. What is the spring
constant for the pogo stick spring? (3333 N/m)

4. An elastic cord is 80 cm long when it is supporting a mass of 10 kg hanging from it at rest at rest. When
an additional 4 kg is added, the cord is 82.5 cm long.
a) What is the spring constant of the cord? (1600 N/m)

b) What is the length of cord when no mass is hanging from it? (73.75 cm)

5. A mass of 5 kg is attached to the end of a spring causing it to stretch 0.98 m.

a) What is the spring constant?

b) How far would it stretch if 2.5 kg were suspended from the spring?

c) How far would it stretch if both masses were both hanging from the end of the spring?
 Young’s Modulus
• Engineering Lingo:
o Load (P)
same thing as force
 Units
N
o Shear force
a force, or component of
a force, that acts parallel to a plane
 Can cause bending

o Axial force
force along the

longitudinal (or long) axis of a body
 Tension
pulling away from
material, pulling force (load)

 Compression
pushing toward

material, pushing force (load)
• Material Characteristics
o Some materials are stronger against
tension, others compression
o Strain (ɛ)
change in length of a
material when an axial force is applied
(ɛ is Greek epsilon)
 units
none, length units cancel
∆L L f – Li
ɛ= ɛ=
L Li
o stress (σ)
force per unit area (like
pressure) for solids
(σ is Greek sigma)
F
σ=
A
 units
Pascal, Pa
o Young’s Modulus (E)
shows the
relationship between stress and strain
 Also known as Elastic Modulus
 like Hooke’s law for solid materials
 used by engineers to quantify
elasticity of a material
important
for designing and building structures
 unique property like boiling pt,
specific heat capacity, etc.
 units = Pa or N/m2, psi,
 E > 0 always
 Equations:
σ F/A
E= E=
ɛ ∆L / L
FL FL
E= E=
A∆L A(Lf – Li)
 Stress vs. Strain Graph
• Stress
y-axis
• Strain
x-axis
• Slope = E
• Yield Point
when slope stops
being linear
o material loses “strength” and is
starting to fail
• Examples of Young’s Modulus
Material Young’s Modulus, E (GPa)
Rubber 0.01 – 0.1
Nylon 2–4
Pine wood 9
Oak wood 11
Aluminum 69
Diamond 1220
 Young’s Modulus Activity

Set up the materials like the picture.

Data for the marshmallow:
• Diameter d = _______
• Radius r = _______
r = d/2
• Area A = _______
A = πr2
Mass Force Area Stress, σ Length ;Length
Strain, ɛ
(kg) (*) (m2) (Pa) (m) (m)

• Calculate Young’s Modulus, E:

• Graph stress vs. strain & find the slope of the graph.
• Questions
1. What does the slope of the graph indicate?
2. Is there a y-intercept for this graph? What
does this value mean? Do you think it should
be a particular value?
3. How does the marshmallow’s Young’s
modulus compare to some of the other
values? What does this tell you about the
marshmallow?
4. Where are some sources of error in this
experiment?