Investigation 1.

1 Finding the Spring

Constant
Conducted: September 23, 2015
By: Bhakti Patel, Mohini Rathod and Kim Pierre Louis

Purpose
The purpose of this lab is to find the spring constant. The measure of a
spring constant is basically the measurement of the stiffness of the spring.

Materials
1 black base
1 aluminum rod
1 iron ring
A spiral spring
4 weights (200 grams each)
A ruler with cm markings (30 cm)

Procedure
1. A table that has enough space so we can set up all of our material.
2. A rod and an iron ring are connected to the base.
3. The spring was then hung vertically from the iron ring, where the bottom loop of
the spring hangs.
4. An observation table was prepared to record all measurements.
5. The springs length was then measured 3 times with the zero end of the ruler
facing the ceiling, at 0 grams and recorded as the 1st term of the observation
table.
6. A weight with the mass of 200 grams was attached at the end of the spring.
7. The new length of the spring was then measured 3 times with a cm marking ruler
and recorded as the 2nd term of the table.
8. Another weight with the mass of 200, was added to the spring (400 grams in
total), the springs length was once again measured 3 times with a cm marking
ruler and recorded as the 3rd term on the observation table.
9. A third weight with the mass of 200, was added to the spring (600 grams in
total), the springs length was measured 3 times with a cm marking ruler for a
third time and recorded as the 4th term on the observation table.
10. The last weight was added to the spring (800 grams in total), the spring's length
was measured 3 times with a cm marking ruler for the final time and recorded as
the 5th (last) term on the observation table.

11. The weights were then removed from the spring.

12. The iron ring and the rod was removed from the base.
13. All

Number of
Weights
0

Mass (g)
0

Length of the
spring (cm)
8.1 cm

200 g

10.9 cm

400 g

12.2 cm

600 g

15.3 cm

800 g

18.2 cm

of the

equipment was put away in appropriate locations.

Analysis
The measurements we had made while following the procedures above are
recorded the table below. Table 1

Using our observations we calculated the increment of the springs length as

we added weights with the mass of 200 grams. The graph below shows the
relations between the mass and the length of the spring.

Spring Constant
18.2

20
15.3

15
10.9

12.2

8.1
Length (cm) 10

5
0

100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

Mass (g)

Line of Best
Fit

The calculations below show how we figured out the slope of the line of best
fit. In this case the slope of the spring is basically a way to explain how stiff
or loose the spring is also known as the spring constant.

Evaluation
For this lab, we attempted to calculate the spring constant of a spiral spring.
We used a spring upon which we added masses and measured the springs
new measurement using a ruler.
Error Identification
The ruler which was used to measure, only measures to 0.01 mm so there
could be an estimated uncertainty of 0.05 too small or too big.
Sources of error in part (1) consist primarily of our limitations in reading the
ruler to the best precision. The edge of the ruler was away from the spring so
we had to "eyeball" its length which couldve introduced error.
The calculation of the spring constant were made using points of a trending
line which could prove to be different from the actual spring constant.