The aim of my investigation is to see how each spring has been affected each time you add on a 100g on a spring.

AS and A Level Science

By Emmet Murphy 11K

Hooke’s law

AIM

SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

In this investigation the following safety rules were applied:

Long hair was tied back to prevent it from getting in the way.
People were not cramped together as they needed room to work.
Goggles were worn to prevent eyes from getting damaged.
People could not play with equipment.
People could not run around in the science laboratory.
Desks were cleared.

There were not to many strict safety precautions used, as the only potential danger was if the spring snapped.

METHOD

My method of experimentation will be to use a clamp stand and boss clamp to suspend a spring from. A second boss clamp will hold in place a metre rule starting from the bottom of the spring to measure extension in cm. I will then add weights to the spring and measure extension. As I am doing this, I will record my results in a table. I will continue to do the tests until the spring will not return to its original shape. To make the tests fair I will use the same spring and set of weights each time. Also I will add the weight proportionally in 1 Newton (10kg) each time. Therefore the change in weight will remain the same.

My prediction is that Hooke’s Law can be proved through a steel spring, as if the weight on the spring will increase so will the extension.

THE APARATUS:

Steel spring

Ruler

Ruler reading

Pin used as pointer

Force applied

Measure then add on weight

7 WEIGHTS 100g each

PREDICITON

My prediction is that each time you add on a 100g weight on a steel spring that the spring will be extended.

Adding on weights to a spring will change the length of the spring. This is because there is a limit to what the ...

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My prediction is that Hooke’s Law can be proved through a steel spring, as if the weight on the spring will increase so will the extension.

THE APARATUS:

Steel spring

Ruler

Ruler reading

Pin used as pointer

Force applied

Measure then add on weight

7 WEIGHTS 100g each

PREDICITON

My prediction is that each time you add on a 100g weight on a steel spring that the spring will be extended.

Adding on weights to a spring will change the length of the spring. This is because there is a limit to what the spring can hold and also sometimes the spring cannot go exactly to its usual form.

The spring would not stretch the same amount each time a new weight is added because more weight and force is pushing down spring each time you add a weight.

I am going to produce precise and reliable evidence by recording my results in a table and plotting a graph. I also hope to carry out the experiment 3 times and take an average to increase the reliability of my results.

OBTAINING EVIDENCE

I used all the equipment safely, following all of the safety rules and observing the experiment entirely.

My results are meaningful as they support my objective. I placed them in a table to make them easier to identify. I did not need to take repeat readings, as I found them reliable and accurate when I noticed that the spring started to follow a pattern as the spring’s extension increased.

I used all the apparatus with the precision to achieve the accurate results. I took 11 results, which I felt to be the appropriate number, as 11N is where the elastic limit occurred and I wanted to find out what happened when I went beyond.

ANALYSIS

On my graph I have found a pattern. It is going straight from bottom to top. The pattern shows the more the weight is added on, the longer the spring will be stretched.

The extension is proportional to the applied force if the elastic limit is not exceeded. I have spotted one anomalous result in my graph. The anomalous result appears as 100g on my graph. My prediction said, “The greater weight applied to the spring, the further the spring will stretch”. The prediction was correct because on my graph I added more weight and the spring stretched further. I have collected secondary data showing how different forces were applied to the spring. When comparing my graph top the one on the worksheet we can clearly see that the other graph has more anomalous results.

CONCLUSION

I am happy with the method I used and I think it was a precise and simple way of finding my objective. I found my results accurate as they followed a general pattern (increasing in the same amount). I found few results misleading as the results increased in larger amounts, but that might have been in view of the fact they were approaching the elastic limit.

I consider my results good enough evidence to support my conclusion as most of them followed a steady pattern and showed that if you stretch something with a steadily increasing force, then the length will increase steadily too. Some of my results were anomalous as when they were approaching the elastic limit the results started increasing in different amounts.