Matter and Forces:

Hookes Law (2.3)

Lesson Objective / We Are

Learning Today.....
To explain the concept of Hookes Law.

Lesson Outcome / What Im

Looking For.....
All pupils will be able to clarify Hookes law and
identify the point on a graph in an experiment on a
spring, where Hookes law no longer applies.

Some pupils will be able to successfully use the

equation to work out the spring constant of a
spring when a force is applied.

Hookes Law
In the 1600s, a scientist
called Robert Hooke
discovered a law for
elastic materials.
Hooke's achievements
were extraordinary - he
made the first powerful
microscope and wrote the
first scientific best-seller,
Micrographia.

Hooke's Law, elastic and plastic

behaviour
If a material returns to its original size and shape when you
remove the forces stretching it we say that the material elastic behaviour.
A plastic (or inelastic) material is one that stays deformed
after you have taken the force away - plastic behaviour.
If you apply too big a force a material will lose its elasticity.
Hooke discovered that the amount a spring stretches is
proportional to the amount of force applied to it. This
means if you double the force its extension will double, if you
triple the force the extension will triple and so on.

The elastic limit can be seen on

the graph.
This is where it stops obeying
Hookes law.

Since Force is proportional to extension Hookes Law could

be put as

Fx
Where F is the applied force in Newtons
x is the extension in metres

Or if k is the proportionality
constant

F=kx

K = Spring Constant?!
The spring constant measures how stiff the spring is.
The larger the spring constant the stiffer the spring.
You may be able to see this by looking at the graphs below:

k is measured in units of newtons per metre (Nm -1).

Example
A spring is 0.38m long.
When it is pulled by a force of 2.0 N, it stretches to 0.42 m.
What is the spring constant? (Assume the spring behaves
elastically.)

Extension, x = Stretched length Original

length
= 0.42m 0.38m
F
= 0.04 m

2.0N = k x
So, k = 2.0 N
0.04m
0.04 m = 50 N m-1

Key Definitions
Hookes Law = The amount
a spring stretches is
proportional to the amount
of force applied to it.
The spring constant
measures how stiff the
spring is. The larger the
spring constant the stiffer
the spring.
A Diagram to show Hookes
Law