The spring constant of a spring

Name

Professor

Unit

June 20, 2022

Introduction

Spring constant measures the ratio of force acting on a spring to the displacement of the spring.

When a graph of force against displacement is plotted, the slope of the graph gives the spring

constant of the spring. There are two ways to find the spring constant with graphs. The first

method involves force against displacement while the other method involves measuring force

and plotting it against the period of oscillations of the spring. Spring constant can also be

calculated from the equation k=-F/X, where F is the applied force, X is the displacement while k

is the spring constant (Wulandari et al., 2021). The purpose of this lab is to determine the spring

constant of a spring and the masses of red and blue objects.

Experiment

This lab was conducted by connecting to the PhET website and selecting masses and springs.

The lab section was used to conduct the experiment. Several boxes in the lab section were ticked

such as the movable line, mass equilibrium, and natural length. Earth was selected to ensure that

gravitational force would be 9.8 m/s 2. The damping scale was moved to the extreme while the

spring constant scale was moved to the middle. Three different masses were selected and

attached to the spring. The displacement of the spring was determined by using the ruler. The

three selected masses were 100 g, 160 g, 180 g and 210 g. The displacements of the four masses

were recorded in a table. The mass of the two unknown objects was calculated after finding the

spring constant graphically.

Mass of 100 g
Mass of 160 g

Mass of 180 g
Results

The values of displacement against force were recorded in the table below:

Force (N) displacement (m)

0.98 1.3
1.6 2.0
1.8 2.3
2.1 2.6
blue object (unknown mass) 2.9
red object (unknown mass) 4.6

F=mg

100
¿ ×9.8=0.98 N
1000

16 0
¿ ×9.8=1. 6 N
1000
 18 0
¿ ×9.8=1.8 N
1000

21 0
¿ ×9.8=2. 1 N
1000

A graph of force against displacement was plotted:

Force v displacement
2.5

2 f(x) = 0.849462365591398 x − 0.121397849462366

1.5
force (N)

0.5

0
1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8
displacement (m)

The slope of the graph was:

∆y 2−1 1
= = =0.8
∆ x 2.5−1.3 1.2

The spring constant of the spring is equal to the slope of the graph.

Therefore, the spring constant was 0.8

Calculating the mass of the blue object:

F=KX

F=0. 8 ×2.9=2.3 2 N
weight=mg

weight
mass=
gravity

2.32
mass= =0.236 kg∨236.73 g
9.8

Calculating the mass of the red object:

F=KX

F=0. 8 × 4.6=3.6 8 N

weight=mg

weight
mass=
gravity

3.68
mass= =0.375 kg∨375.51 g
9.8

The mass of the red object was found to be 375.51 g while the mass of the blue object was found

to be 236.73 g.

Discussion

The experimental values were close to the theoretical values. The masses of various objects used

in the experiment were 100 g, 160 g, 180 g, and 210 g. The masses of the theoretical values were

375 g and 236 g. A larger displacement was produced by the red object, and this showed that it

had more weight than the other objects. The source of error was inaccurate reading of the

displacement that was produced by various objects placed on the spring.

Conclusions and summary

The mass of an unknown object can be calculated from the equation of force, spring constant and

displacement. The spring constant can be determined graphically by plotting force against

displacement. The values of displacement should be read precisely to avoid errors.

References

Wulandari, S., Iswanto, B. H., & Sugihartono, I. (2021, October). Determination of springs

constant by hooke’s law and simple harmonic motion experiment. In Journal of Physics:

Conference Series (Vol. 2019, No. 1, p. 012053). IOP Publishing.