Hooke’s Law

Experimental Design and Analysis

Matthew Slaughter
Craig Zuccolotto
Jennifer Alspaugh
Jeremy Fuegi
Dontay Jacobs

Dr. Abigail Bogdan

SPH 107 01
December 4, 2017
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Introduction

In this experiment Hooke’s Law regarding the constant elasticity of springs was tested.

Hooke studied a variety of topics including but not limited to: elasticity, light refraction in

microscopes and telescopes, and architecture. The studies on elasticity lead to the discovery of

Hooke’s Law in 1660. Hooke’s Law states for a spring of constant stiffness, the force needed to

stretch or compress the spring a given distance, scales linearly with that distance. The law is

stated mathematically as: force equals negative the spring constant multiplied by the distance the

spring is stretched or compressed. Spring constant is written as k, and the distance of stretch or

compression written as ∆x.

𝐹 = −𝑘 ∗ ∆𝑥

Hooke’s discovery is currently utilized in clocks, measuring mass and pressures, seismology,

mechanics, acoustics and more.

This experiment was designed to evaluate Hooke’s Law by calculating the spring

constant –k while exposing a spring to different forces. The hypothesis based on Hooke’s law

was, the spring constant will remain the same regardless of the force applied and the resulting

stretch of the spring. The independent variables of force of gravity and stretch were chosen, and

the dependent variable of the spring constant was calculated mathematically. Force of gravity

was altered by applying varying weights to the spring.

Prediction

It was predicted that the spring constant would remain the same value regardless of the

weight applied to each spring. As there was more weight applied to the spring, there would be
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a larger force, due the equation F = mg, where g was the gravitational constant. The increased

force was predicted to cause a greater stretch, thus maintaining a constant value for –k. Mass

and force were predicted to be directly proportional; as the mass increased the force would have

to increase for the gravitational constant to remain the same.

Hooke’s Law does not apply to all springs and situations. A spring that is stretched too

far may become distorted, losing the original elasticity. Once distorted the spring constant no

longer applies, and the relationship between force and stretch is no longer linear. Therefore, for

Hooke’s Law to apply the forces applied to the spring cannot exceed a maximum threshold for

that spring. If a spring follows Hooke’s Law it is said to be an ideal spring, and if it does not

follow Hooke’s Law is not an ideal spring.

The major limitation of the experiment was distorted springs. Possible sources of the

distortion include: where the springs are made, age, presence of rust, and loss of elasticity from

over stretching.

Procedure

Three springs of varying size but otherwise appearing identical, and three masses were

chosen. Lengths included 4 cm, 5.5 cm, and 6.4 cm, and weights of masses 10 g, 20 g, and 30 g.

A ring stand was set up and force sensor mounted to the arm of the stand. The force

sensor was connected to a laptop using Sparkvue software. Spring a was attached to the force

sensor. The force sensor was zeroed for calibration, and the first weight was suspended from the

sensor. Measurements of force were displayed by Sparkvue and recorded. The total length of

the spring was measured using a meter stick. The total length was subtracted from the
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length at rest to yield distance of stretch, and recorded. Values of force and stretch were

recorded and displayed in Table 1. The mass was removed from the spring, and the sensor

recalibrated. The 20 g weight was applied to spring a, and values of force are stretch were

recorded in the same manner. Measurements were taken for the 30 g weight and spring a and

recorded. Springs b and c were also tested using the same weights, giving a total of nine tests.

Data Analysis and Discussion

Table 1. Materials Used and Data Collected Stressing Three Different Springs using Three
Different Masses
length at Mass Force ∆x Mass Force ∆x Mass Force ∆x
rest (cm) a (g) (N) (cm) b (g) (N) (cm) c (g) (N) (cm)

Spring 4 10 -0.1 2.2 20 -0.2 5.8 30 -0.29 9.4

a

Spring 5.5 10 -0.1 3.9 20 -0.2 8.8 30 -0.29 13.5

b

Spring 6.4 10 -0.1 8.8 20 -0.2 18.9 30 -0.29 29.3

c

Three springs were chosen of varying size to determine whether Hooke’s Law applied to

any springs. Three different masses were chosen for each spring in order to change the force

being applied, and consequently the length of the spring. The masses of the weights were

reported by the manufacturer. 10 g, 20 g, and 30 g were chosen to create a significant difference

in the force applied. For this experiment, the force applied was the force of gravity.
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Force is calculated by multiplying mass by acceleration. For the force of gravity, acceleration is

the published value of gravity.

𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 ∗ 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

In this experiment, the force applied was measured using a force reader and sparkvue software to

confirm the projected force. These values were recorded and displayed in Table 1. The length

of each spring at rest, was measured in centimeters using a meter stick. The springs were

arranged shortest to longest, using a, b, and c designations for each. The length of the stressed

springs, with masses applied, was also measured in centimeters using a meter stick. Change in

length was calculated by subtracting the length at rest from the length of the spring when

stressed.

∆𝑥 = 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 − 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡

These values were recorded and displayed in Table 1.

In order to find the desired value of the spring constant –k, the Hooke’s Law equation

force equals the spring constant –k multiplied by the change in length, was manipulated to isolate

the spring constant -k. The spring constant –k, is a negative value, and is unitless.

𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 = −𝑘 ∗ ∆𝑥

𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 −𝑘 ∗ ∆𝑥
=
∆𝑥 ∆𝑥
𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒
−𝑘 =
∆𝑥
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The resulting equation was applied to the data collected and the values for the spring constant –k

were recorded and displayed in Table 2. The force values were negative since gravity is working

downward, causing the calculated values of the spring constant –k to be positive.

Table 2. Calculated Values of Spring Constant –k using Hooke’s Law Equation Manipulated to
Isolated the Spring Constant –k.
Spring constant calculations, formula: -k = force/ ∆x

mass a mass b mass c

Spring a 0.045454545 0.034482759 0.030851064

Spring b 0.025641026 0.022727273 0.021481481

Spring c 0.011363636 0.010582011 0.009897611

According to the hypothesis: the spring constant will remain the same regardless of the

force applied and the resulting stretch of the spring. Therefore, all three spring constant –k

values should be the same for each spring, plus or minus the uncertainty value. The uncertainty

was calculated to be about .001 in excel. For spring a, the spring constant –k values were

calculated to be: 0.045, 0.034, and 0.030, arranged according to mass applied from 10 g, 20 g, to

30 g. These values had a larger variation than that of the uncertainty 0.001, therefore disagreeing

with the hypothesis. For spring b, the spring constant –k values were calculated to be: 0.025,

0.022, and 0.021, arranged according to mass applied. The first and second values
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had a larger variation than that of the uncertainty 0.001, disagreeing with the hypothesis. The

second and third values were within the uncertainty, agreeing with the hypothesis. For spring c,

the spring constant –k values were calculated to be: 0.011, 0.010, and 0.009 arranged according

to mass applied. All three values are within the uncertainty 0.001, agreeing with the hypothesis.

From the spring constants calculated, it can be determined that spring a does not agree

with the hypothesis, and is therefore not a Hookean spring. Spring c does agree with the

hypothesis, and is therefore a Hookean spring. Spring b however does not consistently agree

with the hypothesis, and must be concluded to not be a Hookean spring. In conclusion, it was

determined through experimentation that springs a and b were not Hookean springs and therefore

not ideal springs. It was also determined that spring c was a Hookean spring and therefore an

ideal spring.

There were multiple sources of error that may have affected the data. Rounding the

lengths up or down on the meter stick was not the most accurate way to measure stretch. The

spring was not able to remain in a fixed position with the weight applied to it, and retained a

slight bouncing motion. The bouncing motion did not allow for an exact total length to be

taken. Another possible source of error was Sparkvue measuring the force on the spring. This

was potentially due to other forces in the room such as the table being bumped, the apparatus not

being completely stable, and movements of other people near the sensor.
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Conclusion

The goal of this experiment was to test Hooke’s Law. Hooke’s Law states that for a

spring of constant stiffness, the force needed to stretch or compress the spring a given distance,

scales linearly with that distance. This experiment tested this law on three different springs by

changing the force applied using three different weights, and measuring the resulting force and

stretch. These data were then analyzed using Hooke’s equations to yield three spring constant

values for each spring tested. It was hypothesized that the spring constant would remain the

same regardless of the force applied and the resulting stretch of the spring. Therefore, all three

spring constant –k values should be the same for each spring, plus or minus the uncertainty

value. The hypothesis was accurate only in spring c, since the values remained within the

uncertainty. These values are all within .001 of each other, indicating that spring c was a

Hookean or ideal spring. Springs a and b presented values close to one another, but out of the

range of the uncertainty. These springs were then determined to be not Hookean or ideal springs.

In future experiments, new springs could be used. Springs could be of the same material,

diameter of wire and diameter of overall spring, only different lengths. This would ensure that

all of the springs would be consistent, and theoretically undistorted. Data could be recorded in

an undisturbed environment to reduce error in data readings from the sparkvue force reader. To

prevent bouncing motion in the spring two values could be taken, one for the highest and one for

the lowest, and then averaged together. More time could be allowed for the spring to come to

rest before measuring the length.

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References

“What Is Hooke’s Law” Phys.org – News and Articles on Science and Technology,

phys.org/news/2015-02-law.html.

“Robert Hooke.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 29 Dec. 2015,

www.biography.com/people/robert-hooke-9343172