Spring Potential Energy (Elastic Potential Energy)

This graph is Force versus Displacement where its slope represents the spring constant k. The spring constant in the above graph is 20 Newtons per meter, or 20 N/m. Which means you will need 20 Newtons of force to stretch the spring one meter, or 2 Newtons of force to stretch it for 0.1 meter, and so on.

The area under this graph of force vs. extension is in Joules, units of energy. This is because the area is in units of Newtons (vertically) times meters (horizontally). Do not forget that units of work are units of force multiplied by units of displacement, or units of Newtons times units of meters. And units of work are units of the transfer of energy, that is, they are

units of energy, or Joules. So, the area under this graph symbolizes energy. It is the work done to stretch the spring. Therefore, Area under graph = (0.5)(F)(x) Let Us = Potential Energy of the spring Hence, Us = (0.5)(F)(x) As stated above, k = F/x Then, F = (k)(x) Therefore, Us = (0.5)(k)(x)(x) Or Us = 0.5(k)(x2) Joules