Hooke's Law EX-5504 Page 1 of 12

Hooke's Law

EQUIPMENT

INCLUDED:
1 1.2 m Aluminum Dynamics Track ME-9493
1 PAScar (Set of 2) ME-6950
1 Cart Mass (Set of 2) ME-6757A
1 Endstops (Set of 2) ME-8971
1 Track Feet (Set of 2) ME-8972
1 Track Rod Clamp ME-9836
1 Motion Sensor PS-2103A
1 Dynamics Track Spring Set ME-8999
1 High Resolution Force Sensor PS-2189
1 Force Sensor Bracket ME-6622
1 Spring Cart Launcher ME-6843
1 Elastic Bumper ME-8998
1 Physics String SE-8050
NOT INCLUDED, BUT REQUIRED:
1 850 or 550 Computer Interface UI-5000 or UI-5001
1 PASCO Capstone

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of the “A” portion of this experiment is to find the spring constant for two springs
under tension and to verify that the energy stored in a spring is in agreement with what Hooke’s
Law predicts. The force applied to the spring is measured using a Force Sensor. The subsequent
extension or compression is measured with a Motion Sensor. An analysis of the data produces
the spring constant. The cart is then released from various positions and its final kinetic energy is
measured and compared to the predicted energy in the spring at the initial position.

The second (B) portion of this experiment examines a spring (under compression) that does not
obey Hooke’s Law. This allows the student to recognize that Hooke’s Law is an approximation
to reality. Conservation of energy is also examined for this more complex case.

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THEORY: PART A

When force is applied to a spring, the resulting extension or compression of the spring maintains
a linear relationship with the applied force. This relationship manifests itself in Hooke’s Law:

F = -k Δx (1)

where F is the applied force, Δx is the extension or compression of the spring measured from its
unstretched length and k is the spring constant. The signs are chosen so that when the spring is
stretched the force is negative since the Force Sensor records a negative force when we pull on it.
(Note: Hooke’s Law is generally written in terms of the force the spring applies on its
surroundings instead of the force applied to the spring.) We will actually measure position of a
cart attached to the spring rather than Δx. Equation 1 may be rewritten:

F = +k(x-xo) = kx – kxo = kx - b (2)

where x is the position of the cart, xo is its position when the spring first begins to stretch (or
compress), and b = kxo. The sign changes in Equation 2 since when the spring stretches, the
distance to the Motion Sensor decreases. Signs here are confusing. Basically, k must be positive.
This has the form of a straight line when F is graphed versus x with k being the slope of the line
and b being the intercept (which has no physical significance).

The energy stored in a spring is

Usp = ½ k(Δx)2 (3)

If the cart is released from position x = x1, at the time the car reaches xo, all of the spring energy
has been converted to kinetic energy of the car and

K = ½ mv2 = Usp = ½ k(Δx)2 = ½ k(x1-xo)2 (4)

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Figure 1: Stretch Setup Figure 2: Initial String Close-up

SETUP PART A: Stretching the Spring

1. Level the track. Use a spirit level if available or just use the motion of the cart on the track. If
a spirit level is available, check level along the track and perpendicular to it.

2. Attach the Force Sensor to the Force Sensor Bracket and attach the bracket to the track as
shown in Figure 1.

3. Attach the Elastic Bumper set to the track to protect the Force Sensor. The elastic band
should be in the highest of the three notches (to clear the spring) and on the side toward the
Force Sensor so the colliding cart doesn’t just push them loose.

4. Attach the Motion Sensor to the other end of the track. Tilt the sensor down slightly.

5. Connect the Force Sensor and the Motion Sensor to the PASPORT inputs on interface.

6. In PASCO Capstone, set the Common sample rate to 100 Hz.

7. Create a graph of Force vs. Position. Also create a graph of Velocity vs. Time.

8. Choose one of the long weak springs from the Dynamics Track Spring Set. Use a short piece
of string to tie the spring to the lower hole on one end of the cart as shown in Figure 1 so the
car is about 15 cm from the spring. Attach the spring to the hook on the Force Sensor with a
small loop of string. The Elastic Bumper set should be several centimeters further from the
Force Sensor than the end of the spring so the spring doesn’t get squashed by the car hitting
the bumper, but the cart should be at least 10 cm from the bumper when the spring is not
stretched. See Figure 2.

9. Zero the Force Sensor by pressing the "Zero" button on the sensor.

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PROCEDURE PART A: Stretching the Spring

1. Start with the spring unstretched and slack in the string. Your hand should be on the end of
the cart away from the Motion Sensor (so the sensor will not measure the position of your
hand).

2. Start recording.

3. Push the cart until it is about 15 cm away from the Motion Sensor, then slowly back until it is
back where it started from. Push STOP. The data on the Hooke’s Law Graph should be very
linear and the force should be zero at the right side.

4. Click open Data Summary at the left of the screen. Double-click on this run (probably Run
#1) and re-label it “Weak Spring”. Note that you can delete bad runs by using the Delete Last
Run button at the bottom right of the screen.

5. Push the cart until the spring is stretched by about 15 cm.

6. Click RECORD. Hold the cart still for a few seconds.

7. Release the cart. Press STOP after the car hits the bumper. The spring may come unhooked.
If it does, try to prevent the cart from striking the Motion Sensor.

8. Verify that you have good data for the speed of the cart after the spring stops pulling on it
and its speed is constant. Verify that the speed becomes constant before the cart hits the
bumper and the speed rapidly becomes negative. If you don’t see a flat plateau (like the
region between 1.70 s and 1.83 s in Figure 3) due to noise, delete the run and do it again. If
noise is a problem, make sure there are no objects near the track to reflect the signal. You
may need to change the tip angle on the Motion Sensor.

Figure 3: Constant Speed Plateau

9. Click open Data Summary and label this run as “15 cm”.

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10. Repeat steps 5-9 for initial stretches of 30 cm and 45 cm. Label them “30 cm” and ’45 cm”.

11. Replace the weak spring with one of the strong springs and repeat steps 1-4. Label the run
“Strong Spring”.

ANALYSIS: PART A

1. Create a table as shown below: Create User-Entered data sets called “Spring” with no units,
“k” with units of N/m, “δk” with units of N/m, “xo” with units of m, “δxo” with units of m,
“x1 15” with units of m, “x1 30” with units of m, and “x1 40” with units of m.

2. Select the “Weak Spring” run on the Force vs. Position graph.

3. Click the Scale-to-Fit icon at the left of the toolbar.

4. Use the Selection tool to highlight all the data except the region where the force is zero
because the spring is unstretched.

5. Select a Linear curve fit.

6. From Equation 2 in the theory, the slope of the F vs. x plot is the Spring Constant, k. Enter
the value for the slope and its uncertainty in the Spring Constant table on the Weak Spring
line for k and δk.

7. We need to determine the exact position where the spring is first unstretched, xo. Click on
the Coordinates tool. Grab the coordinates crosshairs box that appears and drag it until the
vertical crosshair intersects the point where the best fit line (Linear) that you added with the
Curve Fit tool crosses the F = 0 horizontal line. Read the value of xo from the coordinates
box and enter it in the first line of the Spring Constant Table. Estimate the uncertainty in xo
by moving the vertical crosshairs a little bit (use the spread of the data to estimate how
much is reasonable) left and right of the crossing point and see how much x changes in the
coordinates box. Enter the value as δxo in the Spring Constants table.

8. Right click in the Coordinates tool box and select Delete Tool. Click on the black triangle
by the Curve Fit icon and turn off “Linear”. Click anywhere in the Selection box to
highlight it and click the Remove Active Element icon.

9. Repeat steps 1-5 and 7 for “Strong Spring”.

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10. We need the start position, x1, for each of the accelerated runs. Click the black triangle by
the Run Select icon and select “15 cm”. Click the Scale-to-Fit icon.

11. If you don’t see the coordinate crosshairs, click on the Coordinate tool icon. Grab the
coordinate crosshairs and move it so the vertical crosshairs is directly above the start of the
run (max force). It should be easy to see the start since you held the cart there for several
seconds and the force sensor varies a bit and makes a short vertical line. Read the value of
the start position and enter it in the Spring Constants table in the first row in the “x1 15”
column. Right click on the coordinate tool and delete it. Repeat for the “30 cm” and “45
cm” runs.

ENERGY ANALYSIS

1. Create a table as shown below: Create User-Entered data sets called “v 15” with units of m/s,
“δv 15” with units of m/s, “v 30” with units of m/s, “δv 30” with units of m/s, “v 45” with
units of m/s, “δv 45” with units of m/s, “m” with units of kg, and “m spring” with units of kg.

2. Select the “15 cm” run on the Velocity vs. Time graph.

3. Click the Scale-to-Fit button. Click the Selection icon and drag the handles on the selection
box to highlight the first peak. Click Scale-to-Fit again.

4. Drag the handles on the selection box to highlight the plateau region where the speed is
approximately constant.

5. Click the black triangle by the Statistics icon and select Mean and Standard Deviation. Click
the Statistics icon and the Mean and Standard Deviation should appear on the left of the
graph. Enter the values in Table II as v 15 and δv 15.

6. Click in the selection box to highlight it and click on the Remove Active Element icon. Click
on the Statistics icon to turn it off. Repeat for the “30 cm” and “45 cm” runs.

7. Mass the cart and enter the value in the “m” column in kg.

8. Mass one of the springs (they are about the same) and enter the value in the “m spring”
column.

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CONCLUSIONS PART A: Stretched Spring (table: k, K15, U15, K30, U30, K45, U45)

1. Create a table as shown below. Create the following calculations (all have units of J):
K15=0.5*[m (kg)]*[v 15 (m/s)]^2

K30=0.5*[m (kg)]*[v 30 (m/s)]^2

K45=0.5*[m (kg)]*[v 45 (m/s)]^2

U15=0.5*[k (N/m)]*([x₁ 15 (m)]-[xₒ (m)])^2

U30=0.5*[k (N/m)]*([x₁ 30 (m)]-[xₒ (m)])^2

U45=0.5*[k (N/m)]*([x₁ 45 (m)]-[xₒ (m)])^2

2. Did the springs obey Hooke’s Law? Explain fully on what your answer is based.

3. What was physically different about the spring with the larger value of spring constant, k?

4. Was mechanical energy conserved? That is, did Equation 4 from Theory A make correct
predictions for the three accelerated runs? First, click open the calculator at the left of the
screen and verify that the kinetic energies (K15, K30, K45) are calculated correctly in lines
1-3 and that the potential energies of the spring (U15, U30, U45) are calculated correctly in
lines 4-6. Then compare the corresponding values for the initial energy of the spring to the
final kinetic energy of the cart. To really make this comparison, you must consider
uncertainties. There is very little uncertainty in the mass, so we may ignore it. The percent
uncertainty in the kinetic energy is twice the percent uncertainty in the speed since speed is
squared:

δK/K = 2δv/v.

Examine the values in Table II to estimate the uncertainty in the kinetic energies. The
uncertainty in the spring constant (k) is probably much less than 1% and may be ignored.
Then we have:

δU/U = 2δ(Δx)/Δx ~ 2δxo/(x1-xo).

Examine the values in the Table I to estimate the uncertainty in the spring potential energies.
Considering the uncertainties, do the values for spring potential energy and kinetic energy

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agree?

5. Even if the values for K and U agree within the uncertainties, the values for K are probably
less than the corresponding values for U in most cases. Why should this be true?

THEORY: PART B

When one considers the complexity of the changes that go on at an atomic level when a spring is
stretched or compressed (atoms have to move with respect to adjacent atoms), it should be
somewhat surprising that as simple an expression as Hooke’s Law can describe what happens.

Looked at another way, some energy has to be transferred to heating the spring. This means that
the force required to stretch or compress a spring (loading forces) must be larger than the
unloading forces since the energy we get out of a spring must be less than the energy we put into
the spring. For the springs in part A, the difference was too small to notice.
In this portion of the experiment we will use the fact that the work done on the cart is equal to
the area under the force (applied to the cart) versus position curve. The work done on the cart
will be equal to the final kinetic energy of the cart.
K = (1/2)mv² = Work = Area under curve (5)

SETUP B:

Equilibrium Run

1. Attach the Spring Cart Launcher to the cart as shown in

Figure 4. Use the medium spring with the blue end.

2. Place the Motion Sensor on the track so that the front edge
is at the 50 cm mark on the track. Do not move it during
the experiment, including the accelerated run.

3. Attach the elastic bumper set to the track to protect the

Motion Sensor so the elastic band is at the 55 cm mark.
The elastic band should be in the lowest of the three
notches (below the Motion Sensor beam) and on the side
toward the Motion Sensor so the colliding cart doesn’t just
push them loose.

Figure 4: Compression-Equilibrium Run

4. Attach one of the track endstops so the side nearest the Motion Sensor is at the 110 cm mark
on the track.

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5. Push the plastic rod on the Cart Launcher through the hole in the endstop and tie a small loop
of string through the hole in the endstop. Attach the hook on the Force Sensor to the loop.

Compression-Accelerated Run

1. Do NOT change the position of the Motion Sensor or the endstop!

2. Remove the loop of string from the Cart Launcher rod, and set the Force Sensor aside.

3. Locate the Cart Launcher pin and attach a string to it.

4. Attach a second endstop to the track as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Compression-Accelerated Run

5. Put the Cart Launcher rod through the holes in the endstops and put the pin through the hole
in the end of the rod.

6. Adjust the position of the second endstop so the spring is compressed by about 6 cm. The
coils should not touch each other. See Figure 5.

PROCEDURE B1: Equilibrium Run

1. Determine the position of the cart where the spring is compressed by about 7 cm.

2. Start with the spring completely uncompressed. Click RECORD.

3. Pull on the Force Sensor, slowing increasing the force until the cart is at the position noted in
step 1 above. Slowly decrease the force until the spring is uncompressed.

4. Repeat step 3 without stopping the recording.

5. Click STOP.

6. Click open Data Summary and re-label the run as “Spring Curve”. Click Data Summary to

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close it.

7. Consider the Force vs. Position graph and answer Questions 1 and 2 in the Conclusions Part
B below.

8. One way to explain the difference between the loading and unloading portions of the Spring
Curve is to assume there is friction in the system. To test this, click RECORD with the spring
completely uncompressed. Pull on the Force Sensor until the cart is at the position from step
1 and hold it motionless for 15 seconds. Click STOP with the cart still motionless. Release
the tension on the cart slowly. Click open Data Summary and label this run “Loading”.
Answer Question 3 in the Conclusions Part B below.

9. Pull on the Force Sensor until the cart is at the position from step 1. Hold it motionless for 15
seconds. Click RECORD. Slowly decrease the force you apply to zero. Click STOP. Re-label
this run as “Unload 1”.

10. Repeat step 9. Re-label it as “Unload 2”.

PROCEDURE B2: Accelerated Run

1. Change to the Setup for the Accelerated Run.

2. Pin the Cart Launcher rod so the spring is compressed about 6 cm.

3. Click RECORD. Wait 1 second. Pull the pin.

4. After the cart strikes the Elastic Bumper, click STOP.

5. Verify that you have good data for the speed of the cart after the spring stops pulling on it
and its speed is constant. If you don’t see a flat plateau (Figure 3) due to noise, delete the run
and do it again. If noise is a problem, make sure there are no objects near the track to reflect
the signal. You may need to change the tip angle on the Motion Sensor, but do not move it!

6. Click open Data Summary and re-label the run as “Accel 1”.

7. Repeat and label this run as “Accel 2”.

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ANALYSIS: PART B

1. On the Force vs. Position graph, select the “Unload 1” run. Click the Scale-to-Fit button.

2. Select a linear curve fit. Note the slope. Click on the black triangle again and turn off
“Linear”.

3. Repeat for the “Unload 2” run.

4. Answer Questions 4 and 5 in the Conclusions Part B below.

5. Create a graph of Position vs. Time. Select the “Accel 1” run. Click the Scale-to-Fit button.

6. Click the Selection icon and use the handles on the Selection box to select the region before
the Cart started to move and the position was constant.

7. Click on the black triangle by the Statistics icon and select Mean. Click on the Statistics icon
and note the Mean value for the initial position. Click on the Statistics icon again to close it.
Click anywhere in the Selection box to highlight it. Click the Red X on the graph toolbar.

8. Repeat steps 5-7 for the “Accel 2” run.

9. Average the two values for the initial position.

10. On the Force vs. Position graph, click the Selection icon and use the handles on the Selection
box to select the data (Unload 2 run) from the position where F becomes zero to the position
from step 9.

11. Click the Area tool to display the area under the curve in the Selection box. Enter the area in
Question 6 of Conclusions Part B. Ignore any minus sign.

ENERGY ANALYSIS: PART B

1. On the Velocity vs. Time graph, select the “Accel 1” run.

2. Click the Scale-to-Fit button. Click the Selection icon and drag the handles on the selection
box to highlight the first peak. Click Scale-to-Fit again.

3. Drag the handles on the selection box to highlight the plateau region where the speed is
approximately constant.

4. Click the black triangle by the Statistics icon and select Mean. Click the Statistics icon and
the Mean should appear on the left of the graph. Note the value.

5. Click in the selection box to highlight it and click on Red X on the graph toolbar to remove

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it. Click on the Statistics icon to turn it off. Click the Scale-to-Fit icon. Repeat for the “Accel
2” run. Average the two values.

6. Mass the cart with the Spring Launcher attached. Calculate the kinetic energy of the cart plus
Launcher and enter it in Question 7 in the Conclusion Part B.

CONCLUSIONS: PART B

1. Does the spring obey Hooke’s Law when it is compressed? Explain fully!

2. Does Hooke’s Law appear to hold for any portion of the curve?

3. Can you explain the behavior of the spring using friction? Explain fully!

4. Does the unloading spring obey Hooke’s Law?

5. What is the unloading spring constant?

6. What is the area under the Force vs. Position curve?

7. What is the kinetic energy of the cart plus Launcher?

8. Do the area under the curve and the kinetic energy support Equation 5 from Theory B? Try
to explain any differences.

9. Why did we use the area under the unloading curve rather than that under the loading curve?

Written by Chuck Hunt