HOOKE'S LAW AND POTENTIAL ENERGY

OBJECTIVE: To become acquainted with Hooke's Law for srin!s and to see how we can
describe the beha"ior of a srin! in terms of the ener!# stored in a srin! $otentia% ener!#&'
Part 1: Hooke's Law and Sprn!s
THEO():
In this art of the e*eriment we wi%% test whether a srin! obe#s Hooke's Law' +ccordin! to
Hooke's Law,
F

-

k .x / x
o
. , $0&
where F is the si1e of the force necessar# to cause a distortion $stretch the srin! in this case&,
k is the e%astic $or srin!& constant, x
o
is the osition of the end of the srin! when it is
unstretched $the equi%ibrium osition, shown in 2i!' 0+ on a!e 3&, and x is the osition of the
end of the srin! when it is stretched or comressed' 4ote that x - x
o
is the measure of the
distortion $the distance the srin! is stretched in this case&' If the srin! does obe# Hooke's
Law, we wi%% determine the e%astic $or srin!& constant, k'
5(OCE67(E:
+ srin! is mounted such that it han!s "ertica%%# from a suort abo"e the tab%e' 8ei!hts wi%%
be attached to this srin!' + ru%er is attached ne*t to the srin! such that the osition of the
%ower end of the srin! can be measured'
(ecord the osition, x, of the %ower end of the srin! for different a%ied masses startin! at 09

!rams, then 099 !rams, then increasin! the mass b# 099 !rams each time u to 0999 !rams'
4ote that in equi%ibrium the srin! force, F, ba%ances the wei!ht, W $W

=

mg& so that F

=

W'
(E5O(T:
0' 5%ot the force, F, "s' the distance, x' 6o #ou !et a strai!ht %ine: If #ou do, this sa#s that the
force is roortiona% to the distance $F x& and #ou ha"e "erified Hooke's Law, Eq' $0&, for the
srin!'
;' 6raw the best strai!ht %ine #ou can throu!h #our data oints' <4ote: if #our first two oints
do not fit the %ine, then disre!ard them' 8e are not takin! the wei!ht of the srin! itse%f into
account and so Hooke's Law ma# not seem to ho%d for "er# %i!ht masses'= 2rom the s%oe of
the %ine, determine k, the srin! constant, and record the resu%t' Be sure to inc%ude units'
3' 6etermine the x/intercet of the %ine, i'e' find the "a%ue of x for F - 9'This "a%ue of x shou%d
be re!arded as a better "a%ue for x
o
than the osition of the srin! without an# wei!ht on it'
7se this "a%ue for x
o
in the second art of this e*eriment'
Part ": Ener!# Stored n a Sprn! $Potenta% Ener!#&
Hooke>s Law and 5otentia% Ener!#
THEO():
In this art of the e*eriment we wi%% test the equation for the ener!# stored in a srin!'
Let's take down to be the ositi"e direction so that the force e*erted on the han!in! mass can
be written as F
x
= -k$*/*
o
&' 4ote that if the srin! is stretched, x is !reater than x
o
and the force
is ne!ati"e, meanin! it oint uwards' Con"erse%#, if the srin! is comressed, x is %ess than x
o
and the force is ositi"e and oints downwards' The work done b# the srin! force o"er some
sma%% dis%acement x is !i"en b# W = F
x
x. (eca%% that the work done b# a conser"ati"e force,
such as a srin! force, is the difference between the initia% "a%ue of the otentia% ener!#
function and the fina% "a%ue, W - PE
I
- PE
f
. ?ince '' a%wa#s means fina% "a%ue minus initia%
"a%ue, the work can be e*ressed as W - /PE. Thus, we can write PE = -F
x
x. 8e %et the
dis%acement !et sma%%, so this becomes d$PE&@dx - /F
x
' Inte!ratin! both sides with resect to
x !i"es the otentia% ener!# function to within an inte!ration constant:
C x x k dx x x k dx F PE
o o x
+ = = =
;
& $
;
0
& $ '
8e choose C - 9 so that PE is 1ero at x = x
o
and the otentia% ener!# function is
;
& $
;
0
o spring
x x k PE = $;&
Often the distance a*is is made so that the equi%ibrium osition is 1ero $x
o
-

9& which sim%ifies
Eq' $;& to PE = $0@;&kx
;
'
8e wi%% test Eq' $;& b# settin! the srin! osci%%atin! and usin! the Law of Conser"ation of
Ener!# which states that the ener!# of a s#stem at a certain time %us an# work done on the
s#stem is equa% to the ener!# of the s#stem at a %ater time %us an# work done b# the s#stem
$which ma# inc%ude frictiona% terms&:
KE
i
A PE
i
A W
on
- KE
f
A PE
f
A W
by
' $3&
In this e*eriment we wi%% ne!%ect frictiona% terms and we wi%% not do an# work on the s#stem
between the two times we measure the ener!#' The ener!# of the s#stem consists of the
otentia% ener!# stored in the srin! <Eq' $;&=, the kinetic ener!# of the osci%%atin! mass <BE

-

$0@;&mv
;
=, and the !ra"itationa% otentia% ener!# of the han!in! mass <PE
gravity
-

mgh, where g is
the acce%eration due to !ra"it# - C'D

m@s
;
, and h is the hei!ht of the mass abo"e some reference
oint='
In ractice, it is hard to measure v, the seed of the mass' 8e can o"ercome this b# %ookin!
for oints at which the seed is 1ero' This haens at x

=

x
bottom
and x

=

x
top
' $?ee 2i!ure 0B'&
Hence, the kinetic ener!# is 1ero at both %aces makin! the conser"ation of ener!# equation
easier to work with:
<PE
spring
A PE
gravity
=
at x-bottom
- <PE
spring
A PE
gravity
=
at x-top
$E&
or
$0@;&k$x
bottom
- x
o
&
;
A mgh
bottom
- $0@;&k$x
top
- x
o
&
;
A mgh
top
$F&
8e can re/write this %ast equation as:
$0@;&k$x
bottom
- x
o
&
;
/ $0@;&k$x
top
- x
o
&
;
- mgh
top
/ mgh
bottom
$G&
4ow note that h
top
-

h
bottom
- x
top
-

x
bottom
- x' 2rom this our ener!# equation becomes:
;
Hooke>s Law and 5otentia% Ener!#
$0@;&k <$x
bottom
- x
o
&
;
/ $x
top
- x
o
&
;
= - mgx $H&
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0' To start this art of the e*eriment, han! a mass of 0F99

!rams from the srin! and note the
osition, x, Iust as #ou did in 5art 0' 4ow u%% the mass down F'9 cm and record this osition
and %abe% it x
bottom
' 4ow re%ease the mass and estimate the hi!hest osition that the mass
reaches before it starts to fa%% down a!ain' 6o this se"era% times and take the a"era!e of a%% the
tria%s' Labe% this a"era!e x
top
'
;' 4ow substitute #our "a%ues for k $from 5art 0&, m, g, x
o
, x
top
, x
bottom
, and x into Eq' $H&' 6oes
this equation ba%ance: If it does $within e*erimenta% uncertaint#&, we ha"e "erified Eq' $;&,
that
;
& $
;
0
o spring
x x k PE = '
3' (eeat this rocedure $?tes 0 and ;& usin! a ;999

!ram mass'
E' (eeat this rocedure $?tes 0 J ;& usin! a 0999

!ram mass'
(E5O(T:
0' 5erform the ca%cu%ations described in the 5rocedure'
;' 6oes the wei!ht of the mass seem to affect the de!ree to which Eq' $H& ba%ances: 8h# or
wh# not:
3
2IK7(E 0+ 2IK7(E 0B
2IK7(E 0+ 2IK7(E 0B
x
o
x
top
x
bottom
x
m
m