Hooke s Law Experimental Investigation Report

William Jiang

Aim: To investigate and verify Hooke s law (F=kx) for simple springs by applying different weights to a spring suspended on a retort stand. Variables in the experiments include: The weight applied to the spring (given by F), the extension of the spring (given by x) and k the spring constant. Introduction/ Theory: The relationship between a load force and a light spring (F = kx) was first determined by Robert Hooke in the 17th century. Hooke s law states that when an elastic material is subjected to a force, its extension, x, is proportional to the applied force. k is a constant for a particular spring.

Variables: Independent Variables Symbol F Dependent Variabes Symbol x k

Units N

Description The weight(force) applied to the spring Description The extension of the spring The spring constant

Units m Nm-1

Materials/Apparatus: Retort Stand, boss head clamp, 50 gram masses, mass hanger (50g by itself), ruler (1 metre), spring, and a table.

Method:

Step 1. Place retort stand firmly on table to ensure balance. Attach boss head clamp to retort stand as well. Refer to diagram 1

Diagram Diagram 1

2. Attach the spring to the boss head clamp on a retort stand. Measure and record the length of the spring with a ruler. Refer to diagram 2

Diagram 2

3. Now suspend the mass hanger on to the spring and record the length of the spring with a ruler. Refer to diagram 3

Diagram 3

4. By 50g or 100g increments, place masses on to the mass hanger recording the length of the spring and the total mass of the masses (Including the mass hanger which is 50g) each time. Repeat until the total mass reaches 1000g. Refer to diagram 4

Diagram 4

Risk Assessment: This experiment doesn t have many risks involved, but even so there are still a few. One risk is that the weights could cause the whole retort stand to fall and could cause minor injury. A way prevent this from happening is to have the retort stand evenly balanced so that the weights aren t forcing the stand to topple over. Another risk is that the spring could slip off the boss head clamp when under immense weight, thus you have to make sure that the spring is firmly hooked on the clamp. Results: Tables: Table 1 Force (weight) of the masses, length of the spring measurements F (N) 0 0.98 1.96 2.94 3.92 4.90 5.88 6.86 7.84 8.82 9.80 Uncertainty in F (N) none none none none none none none none none none none x (m) 0.000 0.001 0.003 0.041 0.113 0.188 0.257 0.332 0.403 0.480 0.548 Uncertainty in x (m) none + 0.0005 + 0.0005 + 0.0005 + 0.0005 + 0.0005 + 0.0005 + 0.0005 + 0.0005 + 0.0005 + 0.0005

Calculations: To determine Force of the mass we used Equation 1: F = mg Where: F= Force of the mass (N) m= Mass of the mass (kg) g= gravitational acceleration of earth = 9.8 (m/s2) [Equation 1]

To determine x we used Equation 2: xn = sn-s0 [Equation 2]

Where: xn = springs extension while under n amount of mass (m) sn= springs length while under n amount of mass (m) s0= springs length while under no amount of mass. (m) Graphs:

Force vs extension for Spring

12 10 8 F (N) 6 4 2 0 0 0.2 x (m) 0.4 0.6 F (N) Line of Best fit for F (N) F = 19.63x

Discussion: Graphs: Upon analysis of the graph, it is clear that the spring doesn t really obey Hooke s law until more than 3N of force is applied. Thus the line of best fit which is supposed to be linear isn t really accurate, when compared to the original line. It is also found from the line of best fit that k in F=kx is equal to 19.68Nm-1. Uncertainties: There were a few uncertainties that came across whilst doing the prac and whilst producing the results. One of the major uncertainties that we encountered during the prac was that at the start the spring didn t really obey Hooke s law until we put 300 grams of mass; we were uncertain that the spring would produce a linear result as Hooke s law implies. Another uncertainty was the measuring of the spring, at first we let the masses hang by themselves whilst we measured the spring, but as the mass got heavier the retort stand started to lose its balance. So we decided to hold the mass to keep the retort stand in balance, but this jeopardized the accuracy of the experiment because the exactness of the weights force was lost. So to get around this problem we let the mass drop slowly and let the spring extend until there was no more extension, then we measured the spring s length. Other than that, there were no uncertainties during the prac.

Improvements: There were not really many improvements we could have made to improve the accuracy of the experiment, as it was fairly straight forward. But In saying that, there were some improvements we could have added such as: Using a force sensor to accurately measure the force upon the spring, using a motion sensor to accurately measure the extension of the spring and maybe going by smaller increments to produce a more accurate graph.

Conclusion: In conclusion, we did confirm our aim which was to simply investigate and verify Hooke s law (F=kx) for simple springs by applying different masses to a spring suspended on a retort stand. We graphed the results we got and with that we used excel to graph a linear line of best fit. In doing so, we calculated what k was (19.68Nm-1) and thus verified Hooke s law. We also found that when we applied a force of less than 3N the spring didn t obey Hooke s law; this was also the same if you applied too much force.