Hooke’s law: determining k for a spring

Aim:

To investigate Hooke’s law for simple springs of rubber

Hypothesis:

The relationship between a load force and a light spring (F=k.x) was first determined by Robert Hooke in the 17th century. Where F is the force applied to the spring, k is the spring constant, and  x is the extension of the spring. Hooke’s law states that when an elastic material is subjected to a force, its extension (x) is proportional to the applied force. The value of k is constant for a particular spring.

Variables:

Materials:

Methods:

  1. First weigh and record the masses of each mass hanger and the masses
  2. Record these in a suitable for reference during the activity
  3. Attach the lighter spring to the clamp on the retort stand and suspend the mass hanger from the spring. This should extend the spring a little. If there is no extension at all, add a couple of masses to create a slight extension. This places the spring under tension to begin the activity. Record the initial mass.
  4. Measure and record the distance, S0, between the clamp and the bottom of the mass hanger
  5. Add one of the 50 gr masses to the spring. Then, record the actual mass of the 50 gr mass selected
  6. Measure the new distance, s, from the clamp to the bottom of the hanger.
  7. Repeat steps 1-4 another 4 times, adding an additional 50 gr mass each time.
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Record the new distance (s2 to s5) and the total mass each time.

  1. Repeat steps 4-6 for a different spring. Record all results

Results:

Table 3.1 Data of springs’ original length and initial mass

Table 3.2 Data of spring 1 extension

 

Table 3.3 Data of spring 2 extension

 

Table 3.4 Data of spring 3 extension

Table 3.5 Data of spring 4 extension

Table 3.6 Data of spring 5 extension

Data processing:

k= (Δm/Δx) x g

Table 4.1 Data ...

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