HOOKES LAW

Abstract Elasticity is the ability of an object to return to its original length, shape or size when the deforming forces are removed. This experiment deals with the study of the elastic properties of the spring, Hookes Law, the relationship between the deforming force and amount the spring stretches, and the total work done on the spring when being stretched. Given two springs with a force constant of 4 N/m and 8 N/m, the experimental force constants were calculated using the mass used and the displacement after addition of the mass. For the spring with the 4 N/m force constant, an experimental average of 4.256 N/m was acquired and using the 4.742 slope of the line, it yielded a 10.80% difference. As for the 8 N/m spring, a 8.19 N/m average was obtained and the 7.946 slope of the line resulted to a 3.024% difference. On the last part of the experiment, using the data from the first two parts of the experiment, the computed work and area under the line, the spring with the 4 N/m has a percent error of 8% while the spring with 8 N/m has an error of 2.68%. Keywords: elasticity, Hookes Law, deforming forces, force constant Introduction Elasticity refers to a property by which an object changes its length, shape, or size under the action of a deforming force and recovers its original configuration upon the removal of force. The observation that force is directly proportional to elongation for elongations that are not too great is known as Hookes Law and it can be expressed as (1) where F is the force required to stretch a spring, k is the force constant, and x is the displacement. To stretch a spring, work must be applied. When equal and opposite force are applied to the ends of the spring, the force is gradually increased. When holding the left end stationary, there is no work while the other end does the work and it can be viewed as (2) where W is work, and X is the maximum displacement. To study the relationship between forces and deformations, the quantities stress and strain are introduced. Stress characterizes the strength of the forces causing the deformation while strain describes the resulting deformation. When strain and stress are both small enough, it can be seen that the two are directly proportional and this proportionality is called as elastic modulus. Their relationship can be expressed as (3) where Y is the modulus of elasticity, S is the stress, and also called as Hookes Law. is the strain. This proportionality is

Methodology
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A. Setting-up of the Equipment Hang the spring from the notch on the support arm. Connect the stretch indicator to the bottom of the spring and adjust the clamp on the support rod until the stretch indicator is aligned at zero. Connect the mass hanger to the bottom of the stretch indicator.

Figure 1. Setup with the stretch indicator at zero without the mass balance (left), setup with the mass balance (right). B. Determining the Force Constant of the Spring From the setup in part A, place the first mass on the hanger. Record the change in displacement of the spring and the weight of the hanging mass. Compute for the force constant using equation 1. Repeat for another two trials with an additional of 10 grams each.

Figure 2. Setup for determining the force constant of the spring. C. Determining the Work Done on the Spring

Upon filling up Table 2, use the data in part B to compute for the total work done in stretching the spring using equation 2. Results and Discussion Below, Table 1A, is the data gathered upon performing the experiment which used a spring with a 4 N/m force constant. The force was calculated by multiplying the mass with the acceleration due to gravity. The force constant was acquired by dividing the force by the displacement. To get the slope of the line, the formula that is change in y over change in x was used. The percent difference was obtained by using the slope of the line and the average force constant. Table 1A. Determining the Force Constant of the Spring Trial 1 2 3 4 Mass (kg) 5x10-3 0.015 0.025 0.035 Force (N) 0.049 0.147 0.245 0.343 Displacement (m) 0.012 0.036 0.058 0.074 Average Slope of the line % difference Force constant (N/m) 4.083 4.083 4.224 4.635 4.256 4.742 10.80%

Acquisition of the data in Table1B uses the same procedure like that of Table1A though the percent difference in Table1B is significantly lower than that of the first one. The mass used in this part of the experiment was similar to that of the first one for consistency and so they both have the same force. It can also be observed that the displacement of the string in this part is shorter than that of the first one. Table 1B. Determining the Force Constant of the Spring Trial 1 2 3 4 Mass (g) 5x10-3 0.015 0.025 0.035 Force (N) 0.049 0.147 0.245 0.343 Displacement (cm) 6x10-3 0.018 0.029 0.043 Average Slope of the line % difference Force constant (N/m) 8.167 8.167 8.448 7.977 8.19 7.946 3.024%

The work in Table 2 was obtained by multiplying the average force constant and the final displacement. As for the area under the line, the formula of area of a triangle which is one-half base multiplied by height was used. And the percent difference was obtained by the use of the work that was calculated and the area under the line. Table 2. Determining the Work Done on the Spring
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Trial

Final displacement (m) 0.074 0.043

Average force constant (N/m) 4.256 8.19

Work (Joule)

Area under the F vs. x graph 0.013 7.37x10-3

% difference

Table 1A Table 1B

0.012 7.57x10-3

8% 2.68%

Conclusion The fifth experiment deals with Hookes Law and the study of it was done by the use of springs. One of the properties of the spring in this experiment is their force constant. The force constant was obtained by dividing the deforming force by the displacement. Based from the data obtained from the experiment, the force constant of an object does not necessarily change even though the force applied increases. And so it can be said that force constant is independent to the applied force. Upon stretching the string, there is work. Work is the half of the product of the force constant and the squared displacement. From the experiment, it can be seen that the work has a small amount and it can also be observed that work can also be obtained by calculating the area under the line of the F vs. x graph. References Book [1] Young, Hugh D. and Freedman, Roger A., University Physics 12th Edition, 193-194 (2008).