FACULTY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES
PY142: ENGINEERING PHYSICS - I
Experiment 2
To verify the Hooke’s law
Experiment : To verify the Hooke’s law
Objectives
To verify the Hooke’s law.
Apparatus
Hooke’s law apparatus (mirror scale, spring, slotted weights with hanger and pointer,
complete tripod stand), Digital stop watch.
Pictorial Diagram Hook’s Law Set up
Hooke’s 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.
Hooke’s Law
• Hooke's Law gives the
relationship between the
force applied to an
unstretched spring and the
amount the spring is
stretched
• Hooke's Law states:-
the extension is
proportional to the force
• the spring will go back to
its original length when
the force is removed
• so long as we don't
exceed the elastic limit.
Hooke’s Law
F= -k x
F = restoring force of spring
x = the distance that the spring has been
stretch or compressed from equilibrium
k = the spring constant
(-) = force acts in opposite direction of the
displacement
Hooke’s Law
Hooke’s Law
Hooke’s Law
Hooke’s Law
Hooke’s Law
Hooke’s Law
Hooke’s Law
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).
Hooke’s Law
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
= 0.04 m
F=K*x
2.0 N = K * 0.04 m
K = 50 N / m
Hooke’s Law
Key Definitions
• Hooke’s 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 Hooke’s
Law
Experiment : Hooke’s Law
Procedure
1. Arrange a spring AB, a pointer P and a vertical scale as shown in Fig. 1.
2. Attach the weights on the hanger gradually and note down the scale reading correspondingly
in Table-I.
3. Plot the graph between extension (scale readings) versus load for the spring. By taking
extension on X-axis & load on Y-axis.
4. The graph of these data is expected to be linear as shown in Fig. 2.
5. Deduce the force constant k from the relation k = Load / Extension
6. Now determine the period of oscillation T with the help of Digital Stop Clock when
different loads are attached on the hanger in Table- II. Let m be the mass of the load. Using
this relation, compute k for the different m versus T data. Check if k comes out constant, and
check if its value agrees with that obtained from equation (1). For low m values, there may
be a serious departure.
7. In case the spring deviates from hook's laws but is elastic the k deduced in step 6 should match the
corresponding k deduced in step 5, assuming small amplitude oscillations are used to get T.
Experiment : Understanding Errors and
Uncertainties in the measurements
Spring
constant (k)
Results : Hooke’s Law
