Hookes Law PhET Lab Name __________________

Hour _____
Purpose:
1. To investigate Hooke's Law (The relation between force and stretch for a spring ! " #k$
%. To re#visit Newton's &
rd
Law of 'otion.
Discussion:
(ver)bod) knows that when )ou appl) a force to a spring or a rubber band* it stretches. + scientist
would ask* ,How is the force that )ou appl) related to the amount of stretch-, This .uestion was answered b)
/obert Hooke* a contemporar) of Newton* and the answer has come to be called Hooke's Law.
Hooke's Law* believe it or not* is a ver) important and widel)#used law in ph)sics and engineering. 0ts
applications go far be)ond springs and rubber bands.
1ou can investigate Hooke's Law b) measuring how much known forces stretch a spring. + convenient wa) to
appl) a precisel)#known force is to let the weight of a known mass be the force used to stretch the spring. The
force can be calculated from 2 " mg. The stretch of the spring can be measured b) noting the position of the
end of the spring before and during the application of the force.
Equipment:
3h(T 4imulation 54prings and 'asses6 from http788phet.colorado.edu8
Procedure:
1. 9o to 3h(T webaddress and run 4prings and 'asses.
%. :onstruct a data table in lab book. 1ou will need to record the mass that )ou hang from the spring and
the change in position of the end of the spring before and after the mass is added.
Trial
mass
(g
mass (kg
;isplacement
(cm (stretch
1
%
&
Lab Write-up
3urpose
3rocedure
;ata
:alculations89raph
<uestions
&. !rom this* )ou will calculate the force applied to the spring. 1ou will do three trials using 4pring =&* set
to the default setting for stiffness of the spring. 3lace each of the masses from the spring and record )ou
data (+ sample data table is shown above.
>. !or each trial* record the mass* the starting position of the spring (before hanging the mass and the
ending position of the spring (while it is being stretched and record the change in position as
displacement.
?. /epeat the process using spring =& but set the stiffness to hard.
Calculations:
1. :alculate the force applied to the springs in each trial (2 " mg @se g " A.BC& m8s
%
. 'ass must be in kg
when converting to N
%. ;raw graphs ()ou ma) use 9raphical +nal)sis of orce !ersus stretch or the sprin" and the sprin"
set to hard. 1ou ma) be able to put both graphs on the same sheet of graph paper* depending on the
data. !ind the slope of each line on graph.
#uestions:
1. 0maging hanging an obDect (at rest from the spring scale. ;raw a set of diagrams that shows all of the
forces that act7
+. on the obDect- E. on the clamp-
2. 2hat is the net force on7
+. the obDect- E. the clamp-
3. +re the forces that act on the obDect e.ual and opposite- +re the) a Newton's Third Law force pair-
($plain.
4. +re the forces that act on the clamp e.ual and opposite- +re the) a Newton's Third Law force pair-
($plain.
5. 2hat is the relationship of the force on the spring and stretch of the spring-
6. 2hat does the slope of the graph represent-
7. 2hat is a real#world application of HookeFs Law used in class- Hint: Think about lab instruments used
in previous labs.