Hooke’s

Law
Investigating Springs
Spring constant
Limit of Proportionality
Quick Revision - What is a force?
Forces can change the size
and shape of an object.
They can stretch, squash,
bend or twist it.

This is called deformation

Elastic Deformation:
The object return to its original shape when the load
has been removed, an example being a spring being
stretched under normal usage
Plastic Deformation:
The object does not return to its original shape when
the load has been removed, an example being a spring
that has been stretched too far
Stretching springs
Observe the pattern as the load is
increased in regular steps.

1. Is this extension or compression

2. Length of the spring

3. Will the spring return to its original length

if the load is removed?

4. What happens if the load is increased too

far?
 Extension of a spring
As the force stretching the spring increases,
it gets longer. It is important to consider the
increase in length of the spring.

𝐿1
The quantity is known as the extension

𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔

= 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 + 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛

𝐿1 = 𝐿 + 𝑥
F
 Extension of a spring –Extension – Load Graph
6
Load /N Length / cm Extension /cm
5
0.0 24.0 0.0
1.0 24.6 0.6
4

Extension /cm
2.0 25.2 1.2
3.0 25.8 1.8 3

4.0 26.4 2.4

2
5.0 27.0 3.0
6.0 27.6 3.6 1
7.0 28.6 4.6
0
8.0 29.5 5.6
0 2 4 6 8 10
Load /N

The graph is in two parts

 Extension of a spring –Extension – Load Graph
6
Load /N Length / cm Extension /cm
0.0 24.0 0.0 5
1.0 24.6 0.6
2.0 25.2 1.2 4

Extension /cm
3.0 25.8 1.8
3
4.0 26.4 2.4
5.0 27.0 3.0 2

6.0 27.6 3.6

1
7.0 28.6 4.6
8.0 29.5 5.6 0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Load /N
1. At first the graph slopes up steadily. This shows that the extension increases in equal steps as the load
increases
 Extension of a spring –Extension – Load Graph
6
Load /N Length / cm Extension /cm
0.0 24.0 0.0 5
1.0 24.6 0.6
2.0 25.2 1.2 4

Extension /cm
3.0 25.8 1.8
3
4.0 26.4 2.4
5.0 27.0 3.0 2

6.0 27.6 3.6

1
7.0 28.6 4.6
8.0 29.5 5.6 0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Load /N
2. Then the graph bends. This happens when the load is so great that the spring has become permanently
damaged. It will not return to its original length
 Hooke’s Law
The extension of a spring is proportional to the
load applied to it, provided the limit of
proportionality is not exceeded.

𝑭 = 𝒌𝒙

- F is the load (force) stretching the spring (N)

- k is the spring constant of the spring (a measure
of its stiffness) (N/m)
- x is the extension of the spring(m)
 Hooke’s Law
Limit of proportionality

At a certain point, the graph bends and the line

slopes up more steeply. This point is also known as
the elastic limit

If the spring is stretched beyond this point, it will be

permanently damaged. If the load is removed, the
spring will not return all the way to its original,
undeformed length.
Extension of a spring – Load (Force) – Extension Graph

Linear (straight line) from Force-Extension Graph

Elastic Deformation following Hooke’s Law
- The point it stops being linear is called the limit of
proportionality.
- From then on it does not obey Hoke’s Law.
Elastic Region – Following -
Hooke’s Law
Gradient is the spring constant , k
Extension of a spring – Load (Force) – Extension Graph
Non-linear (curved line) from Force-Extension Graph

Plastic
Plastic Deformation not following Hooke’s Law
Region
- After the plastic region, it will fracture (spring
breaks)
- From then on it does not obey Hooke’s Law.
Elastic Region – Following
Hooke’s Law
 Let’s try this one☺
1. A spring has a spring constant k = 20 N/cm. What load is needed to produce an
extension of 2.5 cm?

2. A spring requires a load of 2.5 N to increase its length by 4.0 cm. The spring obeys
Hooke’s Law. What load will give an extension of 12 cm?

3. A spring has an unstretched length of 12. 0 cm. Its spring constant k is 8.0 N/cm. What
load is needed to stretch the spring to a length of 15.0 cm?
 Let’s try this one☺
4. The results of an experiment to stretch a spring are show in a table. Use the results to
plot an Extension – Load graph. On your graph, mark the limit of proportionality and
state the value of the load at that point.

Load /N Length / cm Extension /cm

0.0 0.800
2.0 0.815
4.0 0.830
6.0 0.845
8.0 0.860
10.0 0.880
12.0 0.905
 Let’s try this one☺
An athlete of mass 64 kg is bouncing up and down on a trampoline.
At one moment, the athlete is stationary on the stretched surface of the trampoline. Fig. 3.1 shows
the athlete at this moment.
 Let’s try this one☺
(a)State the form of energy stored due to the stretching of the surface of the trampoline.
(b) The stretched surface of the trampoline begins to contract. The athlete is pushed vertical
upwards and she accelerates. At time t, when her upwards velocity is 6.0 m / s, she loses contact
with the surface.
(i) Calculate her kinetic energy at time t.
(ii) Calculate the maximum possible distance she can travel upwards after time t.
(iii) In practice, she travels upwards through a slightly smaller distance than the distance
calculated in (ii).
Suggest why this is so.
 Let’s try this one☺
(c) The trampoline springs are tested. An extension-load graph is plotted for one spring. Fig. 3 is
the graph.
(i) State the name of the point X.
(ii) State the name of the law that the spring obeys between the origin of the graph an point X.
 Let’s try this one☺
Fig. 3.1 shows part of the extension-load graph for a spring.
The spring obeys Hooke’s law between points A and B.
(a) (i) On Fig. 3.1, complete the graph between A and B.
(ii) State the name of point B.
 Let’s try this one☺
(b) The average value of the load between A and B is 6.0 N. Calculate the work done in extending
the spring from A to B.

(c) The spring has an unstretched length of 4.0 cm. An object is hung on the spring and the spring
length increases from 4.0 cm to 6.0 cm.
(i) Calculate the mass of the object.

(ii) The object is immersed in a liquid but remains suspended from the spring. The liquid exerts an
upward force on the object and the length of the spring decreases to 5.0 cm.
Calculate the upward force exerted on the object by the liquid.
 Let’s try this one☺
Fig. 1.1 shows a graph of the stretching force F acting on a spring against the extension x of the
spring.
Let’s try this one☺

(i) State the features of the graph that show that

the spring obeys Hooke’s law.

(ii) Calculate k, the force per unit extension of

the spring.
Let’s try this one☺
(iii) The limit of proportionality of the spring is reached
at an extension of 50 mm. Continue the graph in Fig.
1.1 to suggest how the spring behaves when the
stretching force is increased to values above 125 N.

(iv) Another spring has a smaller value of k. This spring

obeys Hooke’s law for extensions up to 80 mm. On the
grid of Fig. 1.1, draw a possible line of the variation of
F with x for this spring
 Let’s try this one☺
Fig. 2.2 shows a mass of 0.12 kg resting on the bottom of a box.
A spring with a spring constant of 45 N/m connects the mass and one side of the box. Ignore
friction between the mass and the box.
(i) The box and the mass are at rest. State the resultant force acting on the mass.
 Let’s try this one☺
(ii) The box is firmly attached, in a horizontal position, to the body of a racing car. As the car
accelerates the spring stretches by 2.0 cm.
1. Considering the properties of the spring, determine the tension in the spring.
2. Calculate the acceleration of the mass produced by this tension.
 SPRINGS COMBINATIONS

Springs are sometimes connected in

combinations.
SPRINGS IN PARALLEL

The extension of the springs is

divided between the two springs.
SPRINGS IN SERIES

The extension of the springs is

experienced by each of the
springs independently.
SPRINGS COMBINATIONS – Same spring properties
 Let’s try this one☺
Four students, A, B, C and D, each have a spring. They measure the lengths of their
springs when the springs are stretched by different loads.
Their results are shown in the following Table.

a) (i) State which student had loaded the spring beyond the limit of proportionality.
(ii) Explain how you obtained your answer to (a)(i).
Let’s try this one☺
 Let’s try this one☺

b) For the spring used by student A, calculate

(i) the extra extension caused by each additional 0.5 N,
(ii) the unloaded length of the spring.
 Let’s try this one☺
c). Student A obtains a second spring that is identical to his first spring. He hangs the
two springs side by side, as shown in the Figure. Use the table to calculate the length
of each of the springs when a load of 2.5 N is hung as shown in the Figure. Show your
working.
 How rubber behaves
- A rubber band can be stretched in a similar way to a spring.
- As with a spring, the bigger the load, the bigger the extension
- However, if the weights are added with great care, and then removed one by one without releasing the
tension in the rubber, the following can be observed:

1. The graph obtained is not a straight line. Rather it has a slightly S-shapes
curve. This shows that the extension is not exactly proportional to the load.
Rubber does not obey Hooke’s Law.
2. Eventually, increasing the load no longer produces any extension. The
rubber feels very stiff. When the load is removed, the graph does not come
back exactly to zero.
How rubber behaves
End of
Hooke’s
Law
Questions???