NAME: _____________ Date: _________

Hooke’s Law Lab

Purpose: To determine the relationship between the force that a spring

exerts on a hanging mass and the amount that the spring stretches as a
result of the mass hanging on it.

Background: In this lab, we want to measure the spring force. When a

mass is suspended by a spring (not moving up or down), the force of gravity
on the mass (directed downward) is balanced by the force of the spring
(directed upward). Therefore, we can measure the spring force simply by
measuring the weight of the mass hanging on the spring.

NOTE: Do not add more than 500 grams to the spring!

Procedure:

1. Adjust the hook clamp and centimeter scale so that the mass holder

pointer reads 0 centimeters with no mass on the holder. (You may

need to add a pointer… which is just a paper clip wrapped around the

mass holder)

2. Place a 50 g mass on the spring holder. How much does a 50 g mass

weigh?

3. Measure the amount that the spring is stretched (the extension).

4. What was the amount of force that the spring exerted on the mass?

(See “Background” if you don’t know how to measure the spring force)

5. To find the mathematical relationship between the spring force (F s)

and the corresponding extension (X), add masses and measure the

resulting extensions, and record your answers in the table below:

 Spring Initial Final Extension Total
Weight
Mass (g) Force length length (m) extension
(N)
(N) l0 (m) lf (m) lf – l0 (m)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300

6. Plot a graph of spring force (Fs) vs total extension (x). Put extension

on the x-axis and spring force on the y-axis. Make sure to label the

graph and use units.

7. What does your graph indicate for the relationship between F s and x?

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

8. Using the equation of a straight line (y=mx+b) as a model write an

equation using Fs and X for your straight line.

____________________________________________________

9. Determine the gradient (slope) of your line (be sure to include the

units). This is called the spring constant and is represented by the

letter k.
Questions:

1. Calculate the spring constant of a spring which is stretched 0.1 m by

a force of 2 N

2. The length of an unstretched spring is 0.2 m. when a force of 0.5 N is

applied to the spring it stretches to a total length of 0.3 m. Assume
Hooke′s law holds. Calculate the spring constant of the spring.

3. The spring in 2 above is now stretched to 0.4 m. Assuming that Hooke

′s law is still obeyed, calculate the extension and the force applied.
i. Extension of spring
_______________________________________________
ii. Force applied

4. In an experiment, forces are applied to a spring as shown in (a). The

results of this experiment are shown in (b).
a. What is the name given to the point marked Q in (b)?
_______________________________________________

b. What is the name given to the point marked R in (b)?

_______________________________________________

c. For the part OP of the graph, the spring obeys Hooke′s law.
State what this means.
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
d. The spring is stretched until the force and extension are shown
by the point R on the graph. Compare how the spring stretches,
as shown by the part of the graph OQ, with the shown by QR.
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
e. The part OP of the graph shows the spring stretching according
to the expression
 F = kx
Use values from the graph calculate the value k.

5. The area under your line on your graph would make a triangle.
CHALLENGE QUESTION – What does this area represent?
____________________________________________________