Physics lab

16 November 2015

Introduction

Springs were investigated by Hooke about 300 years ago. He found that the extension was
proportional to the stretching force so long as the spring was not permanently stretched. This
means that doubling the force doubles the extension trebling the force treble the extension and
so on. Hooke’s law is true only if the elastic limit of the spring is not exceeded, i.e. if the spring
returns to its original length when the force is removed. This experiment/observation was to
find out if the extension is proportional to the stretching force.

Hypothesis

I predict that when more weight is added, the spring’s extension would increase thus following
the Hooke’s Law.

Apparatus

-Clamp

-Boss

-Stand

-Load/weight/hanger

- (Steel) spring

-Ruler/scale

Method

1. Arrange a steel spring as in fig.1.

2. Read the scale opposite the bottom of the hanger.
3. Add 100g loads one at a time (thereby increasing the stretching force by steps of 1 N).
4. Take the reading after each one.
5. Enter the readings in the table for loads up to 600g.

Data and results

Single spring Equilibrium length

Total hanging Total hanging Total force=mg Stretched length Extension (m)
mass (g) mass (kg) G=10N/kg (N) (m)

1
0 0 0N 2 cm 0
100 0.1 1N 3.5 cm 1.5 cm= 0.015m
200 0.2 2N 5.5 cm 3.5 cm=0.035m
300 0.3 3N 7.6 cm 5.6 cm= 0.056m
400 0.4 4N 9.6 cm 7.6 cm=0.076m
500 0.5 5N 11.5 cm 9.5 cm=0.095m
600 0.6 6N 13.5 cm 11.5 cm= 0.115m
700 0.7 7N No data
800 0.8 8N

Analysis (see graph attached at back)

From the graph, we obtained a straight line. This shows that the extension of the spring is
directly proportional to the total force (mg);

Slope=rise/run

= (6-1)/ (0.115-0.015)

=50N/m

Therefore, the extension(x) α total force (F) that is:

F=k(x+0.005), where k=50N/m, because the line passes through the x-axis at -0.005m.

We may use this result to measure the mass of an object by using this formula. For example:

If we put a mass (M) on the spring and the extension of the spring is 10cm (0.1m), then the mass
would be given by F=k(x+0.005),

Mg=k(x+0.005)

M=k(x+0.005)/g= (50 N/m) *0.105m/ (10 N/kg)

=0.525kg

Conclusion

From the results, a straight line is obtained. However, the place where the line intersects the x-
intercept is at -0.005m.Which means that the spring still followed the Hooke’s law except that

2
from the results, the equation will differ from mg=kx to mg=k(x+0.005). The outcome is most
likely affected due to our initial measurements. Maybe, we have some error in measuring the
length of the spring at 0 N and therefore the x-axis will move to the left a bit.

When we doubled or tripled the load, the strength doubled and tripled proportionally following
the Hooke’s Law. From the graph, we can work out the gradient:

Gradient =rise/run

= (6-1)/ (0.115-0.015)

= 50 N/m

When large loads are added to the spring, the extension would be stretched longer depending
on the mass of the load till it exceeds it limit of proportionality and reached its elastic limit
where the load is too large and therefore damaging the spring to a point where it could not
return its original form and thus leading the straight line on the graph to curve if we continue
this experiment by adding more larger loads to the hanger.

If we replace the spring with a stiffer spring, the results would change. The line of best fit would
go flatter closer to the x-axis as the extension would be less than its original spring. On the other
hand, if you replaced the spring with a weaker spring, the result would differ in an opposite way.
The line of best fit would be steeper as the extension would increase because there is a weaker
force holding the spring together even at its original form.