SPRING CONSTANT

AIM: To determine the restoration force per

unit extension ( Orspring constant) of a spiral
spring by STATICAL METHOD and
DYNAMICAL METHOD
THEORY :

• SPRING CONSTANT (k) of spring is

defined as the force required to
produce unit extension or compression
in it.
• S. I. unit of the spring constant is
N/m or kg/s
MATERIAL REQUIRED :

 A highly elastic, light, flat spring, a pointer, half

kg slotted weight .a meter scale with clamp and
a stop watch
STATICAL METHOD
• Let us consider a light and highly elastic
flat spring of spring constant k suspended
from a rigid support as shown in the
figure. The weight Mg due to load M
attached to the lower end B of the spring
produces and initial elongation l which can
be measured by the position of the pointer
P on the scale .The restoring force exerted
by the spring is

F1 = -kl …..(I)
Here,the negative sign shows that the
extension l is directed downward while the
restoration force F1 Is directed upward .
At equilibrium, we have

F1+Mg=0

OR F1 = -Mg …….(II)
 From (I) and (II),
Mg = kl
or k = Mg/l ……..(I)

• Thus the spring constant k can be

determined if the extension l for a known
load M is measured The spring constant can
also be determined graphically by plotting a
graph between the load M along x-axis and
the extension l along Y-axis. The graph is a
straight line whose slope is l /M

∴ k = g/slope
DYNAMICAL METHOD
Let the mass M at the end of the spring be pulled downward through
a small distance. The total extension in the spring is (l+y). If F2 is the
restoring force in this position, then

F2 = -k(l+y)
The effective restoring force will be
F = F2 – F1
= -k(l+y)-(-kl)
= -ky

Thus the restoring force “F” is proportional to the displacement y

and is directed towards the equilibrium position. Hence, if pull from
the mass M is released, it will execute simple harmonic motion. If
d²y/dt² is the acceleration of the mass, the equation of the motion of
the vibrating spring is
 (M+mc )d²y/dt² + ky = 0
or d²y/dt² + k/(M+mc )*y = 0

• When mc is the effective mass of the spring and is equal

to m/3 where m is the actual mass of the spring. The
effective mass of the spring is the mass which is supposed
to be suspended at the bottom of a vibrating spring and is
to be added to the actual suspended mass M.

• T = 2π√(M+mc )/k ……(vi)

Or T² = 4π²M/k + 4π²mc/k …….(vii)

Thus if a graph is plotted between the load M along X-axis and T² along Y-axis, we will
obtain a straight line with slope is equal to 4π²/k

k = 4π²/slope ……(viii)

• Equation (vii) also shows that when T=0, M=-m, i

e., the negative intercept of the graph on the M-axis
gives the effective mass mc. Then the actual mass of
the spring m can be easily determined as

• m = 3mc ……(ix)