EXPERIMENT 205 HOOKES LAW

Manlapaz, Sarih S.
Physics Department, Mapa Institute of Technology
ssmanlapaz@mymail.mapua.edu.ph

Abstract

Elasticity refers to a property by which an
object changes its length, shape or size under
the action of a deforming force and recovers its
original configuration upon the removal of
force. The objectives of the study are that to
study the elastic properties of the spring, to
determine the force constant of the spring, to
investigate the relationship between the
deforming force and amount the spring
stretches and to determine the total work done
on the spring when it is being stretched. In
performing the experiment, we constantly
hanged weights on the Hookes law apparatus
and measure the displacement it makes so that
we can solve for the force constant, and the
work done.

I. Introduction

law of elasticity discovered by the English
scientist Robert Hooke in 1660, which states
that, for relatively small deformations of an
object, the displacement or size of the
deformation is directly proportional to the
deforming force or load. Under these
conditions the object returns to its original
shape and size upon removal of the load.
Elastic behaviour of solids according to
Hookes law can be explained by the fact that
small displacements of their
constituent molecules, atoms, or ionsfrom
normal positions is also proportional to the
force that causes the displacement.


II. Theory

The shape of a body will distort when a force is
applied to it. Bodies which are elastic distort by
compression or tension, and return to their
original or equilibrium position when the
distorting force is removed (unless the
distorting force exceeds the elastic limit of the
material). Hooke's Law states that if the
distortion of an elastic body is not too large, the
force tending to restore the body to equilibrium
is proportional to the displacement of the body
from equilibrium. Stated mathematically:


where F is a restoring force, k is a constant of
proportionality and x is the distance the object
has been displaced from its equilibrium
position. From Newton's 2nd Law,

for a spring attached to a mass. The solution to
this equation is


where,
and is a phase
constant, determined from initial conditions. A
mass hanging from a massless spring oscillates
about its equilibrium position with a period, T,
given by
However, if the spring is not massless, then m
must be replaced with m + am
sp
where a equals
some fraction of the spring mass. Thus, in
general, the period of a spring/mass system can
by described by

equation (5) can be solve for m, so that

This is an equation of the form of y=mx+y
o
,
where x =

and y
o
=am
sp
. Note that the
quantity (m + am
sp
) is known as the

equivalent mass of the system. For an ideal
Hookes law spring, a=

.

This experiment, aims to study the elastic
properties of the spring, it also aims to
determine the force constant of the spring
likewise to investigate the relationship between
the deforming force and the amount the spring
stretches and lastly to determine the total work
done on the spring when it is being stretched.

III. Methodology


A. Setup

Fig. 1 Experimental Setup (Part 1)


B. Materials

1 set Hookes Law Apparatus
1 pc 4 N/m Spring
1 pc 8 N/mSpring
1 pc Mass Hanger
1 set Weights

C. Procedure


Setting up the experiment, we hanged the
spring from the notch on the support arm
carefully and connect the stretch indicator to
the bottom of the spring. Then, the clamp is
adjusted on the support rod until the indicator
reading is aligned at exactly zero. Afterwards,
we connect the mass hanger to the bottom of
the stretch indicator and start doing the first
part of the experiment which is the
determination of the force constant of the
spring.
First, we use the 8 N/m spring and a 10
gram weight as our initial mass whereas, it is
placed on the hanger. From the reading of the
transparent scale plate, the change in
displacement of the spring was recorded and
also the value of first mass. Using equation (1),
we compute for the force constant of the spring.
We performed three trials but varying the mass
by adding 10 g in each trial. The average value
of the force constant was determined through
calculation and the graph of a force versus
displacement is also
drawn in our data.
We find the slope of the line and finally
calculated the percentage difference of the
average value of the force constant and the
lines slope. Applying the same procedures, we
used the other spring that is 4 N/m. For the
completion of the experiment, we determined
the work done on the spring after gathering all
the required data and substituted it in the
equation,


Where x
f
is the displacement from trial 4 in the
1st part of the experiment and x
o
=0.
We find the area under the graph of force
versus displacement and compared it to the
total work done.


IV. Results and Discussion


In the first part of the experiment, the force
constant of the 4 N/m and 8 N/m spring is
determined by the quotient of the values from
force (product of mass and acceleration due to
gravity) and values of displacement (reading
from transparent scale plate).(See table 1a & b)

Observing the data gathered from Table 1, we
noticed that for each spring, as the mass
increases, the force and displacement also
increases but produces a force constant that is
quite close with the actual value of the spring.
Meaning, force and displacement are directly
proportional to each other.



The graph above perfectly illustrates the
relationship between force and displacements
direct proportionality. The line graph is going
towards the upper right of the coordinate plane
and therefore has an increasing slope.
The last part of the experiment was about the
determination of the work done on the spring
which is a pure computation.(See table 2)

V. Conclusion

The evident relationship between the force
applied and the force constant is that their
quotient would be equal to the distance
stretched by the spring.
A spring stretches because its structure is weak
enough to be pulled but this would create strain
on the spring that forces it to return to its
original form making it harder and harder to
stretch. The spring would be deformed if the
force applied was too much which would reach
the maximum strain that the material can have
then it goes to a point where the spring deforms
to reduce the strain.
This experiments objectives is to study the
springs elastic properties, determine its force
constant, investigate the relationship between
the deforming force and amount the spring
stretches, and determine the total work done on
the spring when it is being stretched or pulled.
After this experiment, our group was able to
determine the total work done on the spring
when it is being stretched with the use of the
equation (

). We were also able to

determines the true force constants of the two
springs. We also found out the relationship of
force and amount the spring stretches which
can be used to solve for the force constant by
manipulating the equations and turning them
into ( ).
Hooke's Law posses the idea that every spring
has a spring constant (stiffness of the spring)
and can be calculated by dividing the force
which pulls the spring by the spring
displacement.



VI. References

[1] Halliday, Fundamentals of Physics, 9
th

edition.
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooke's_law
[3]http://www.brightstorm.com/science/physics
/oscillatory-motion/hooks-law
[4]http://www.physics247.com/physics-
tutorial/hookes-law.shtml