Assignment 3.

LAB
Hooke's Law
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This lab has 2 parts:
1 PART
Objectives:

● Validate Hooke’s Law

● Use Hooke’s Law to determine unknown masses and an unknown g value.
● Analyse how different combinations of spring affect the stretching of a
system.

Background:

Hooke's law states that extension of a

spring is proportional to applied force.

If a spring obeys Hooke's law, then a

graph of applied force against extension
will be a straight line, whose gradient
(slope) is k:

The equation of the straight line is:

F=k x

where:
F = stretching force applied to the spring
k = spring constant
x = extension of the spring

Part 1.1: Validating Hooke’s Law. 20%

Open the following simulator and click the lab option:

https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/masses-and-springs/latest/masses-and-
springs_en.html
 a) Place the 100g mass onto the spring. The spring will begin to oscillate up
and down. Stop this by clicking on the mass several times or increasing the
‘Damping’ value to ‘Lots’.
b) Click the ‘Displacement’ and ‘Movable Line’ options on the right. Adjust the
movable red line to the tip of the green arrow.

c) Use the ruler tool on the bottom right to measure the extension of the
spring with the 100g mass. Convert this mass to a weight (use g=9.8 m s−2)
and add this data to table 1. Remember to convert g to kg.

Mass added (g) Force (N) Delta. Extension (cm)

0,1 kg 0,1*9,8=0,98 18

0,15kg 1,47 25

0,2kg 1,96 35

0,225kg 2,205 39

0,25kg 2,45 43

0,3kg 2,94 53

Table 1
 d) Using the slider at the top, change the mass and record 6 more results of
weight and extension. Add your results to table 1.

e) Plot a graph (using Excel) for Force (y-axis) against extension (x-axis).
Draw a line of best fit through your points. Explain the graph.

f) Using your graph, determine the spring constant of your spring (in N /cm )
by finding the gradient.

K=F/c=2,94/53=0.054

g) What evidence from your graph shows that the spring obeys Hooke’s Law?
When x is multiplied, the force increases accordingly
F=k x

Part 1.2: Determining Unknown Masses 10%

Using your value for the spring constant (k) in part 1.1, determine the masses of
the two unknown, red and blue masses in the simulation. Show your working and
measurements taken for this part. To get a good average result, at least 3
measurements should be taken of each mass.
Add your calculation. (DO NOT ADD A PHOTO, use )

M1g=kx, m9,8=60*0,054/9,8=0,33kg
M2g=kx, m9,8=40*0,054/9,8=0,22

red mass = ..............330............... g (not in kg)

blue mass = ................220................ g (not in kg)

Место для уравнения .

Part 1.3: Determining Unknown Value of Gravity 5%

Change the ‘Gravity’ to ‘Planet X’.

The value of g is no longer 9.8 m s−2 but something unknown.

Using your spring constant from (k) part 1, determine the unknown value of g for
this planet. Show your working and measurements taken for this part. To get a
good average result, at least 3 measurements should be taken of each mass.
 Mass added (g). Extension (cm) Unknown g
Do not forget to
convert into kg

0,1 26 14,4
0,22
50 13,86
0,33
77 14,1

unknown g = ...................................... m s−2. Note that in m/s

Part 1.4: Analysing Systems of Springs. 10%

Open the simulation below and press the systems open:

https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/hookes-law/latest/hookes-law_en.html

a) Select the options ‘Displacement’, ‘Equilibrium Potion’ and ‘Values’. Make

sure the option of two springs in parallel is selected so that the springs
look like the setup in the image below.
 b) Keep the top spring constant k 1=200 N m−1 and the bottom spring constant
−1
k 2=200 N m . Apply 100N of force to the right. Measure the extension and
determine the total spring constant of the two springs in parallel (
Force
). To prove the formula of k in parallel. Record your results in
Extension
table 2.

Two Springs in Parallel

k 1 ( N m−1 ¿ k 2 ( N m−1 ¿ F (N) Extension (m) Total k (

−1
Nm ¿

100 N
200 200 0,250 400

100 N
400 400 0,125 800

100 N
500 500 100 1000

100 N
600 600 0,083 1200

Table 2
c) Repeat step b) three more times by changing the values of k 1 and k 2 and
adding the results to table 2.

d) Describe the relationship between the individual spring constants k 1 and k 2

, and the total spring constant k for springs in parallel. Try and write this in
the form of an equation.
K1+K2=K

e) Press the series spring button so that the springs change their
combination to look like the setup in the image below:
 f) Keep the left spring constant k 1=400 N m−1 and the right spring constant
−1
k 2=400 N m . Apply 100N of force to the right. Measure the extension and
determine the total spring constant k of the two springs in series (
Force
). Record your results in table 3.
Extension

Two Springs in Series

k 1 ( N m−1 ¿ k 2 ( N m−1 ¿ F (N) Extension (m) Total k (

−1
Nm ¿

200 200 1 100

100 N

300 300 0,65 150

100 N

400 400 .05 200

100 N

600 600 0,33 300

100 N

Table 3

g) Repeat step f) three more times by changing the values of k 1 and k 2 and
adding the results to table 3.

h) Thor, Iron Man and Loki offer a model for finding the total spring constant
k for two springs in series:
 k 1 +k 2
● Thor: k =
k 1k 2
2

● Iron man:
( k 1 +k 2 )
k=
k 1+ k 2
1 1 1
● Loki: = + LOKI is correct
k k1 k 2

Explain which hero’s model is correct based on your results.

Part 2. Elastic potential energy -10%

1 2
The work done by F (Elastic potential energy) is equal to U = kx .
2
Where:
U= elastic energy
k= spring constant
x= extension of the spring

Procedure:
Part 2.1:

1) Go to the simulation again https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/hookes-

law/latest/hookes-law_en.html.
2) Choose the first option (intro)
3) Start filling the table provided down below. Do not change the spring
constant value, set it as k= 500 N/m throughout the experiment.
4) Keep increasing the force by 20N each time.
5) Calculate the extension of spring using the data recorded in the table 1
below.
6) Calculate the Elastic energy.
7) Go to Excel, create a force vs extension of spring graph from the table you
filled.
8) Find the spring constant from the graph (slope).
9) Find the percentage error of the spring constant (real value = 500 N/m),
(the expected value is the slope of the graph).

Part 2.2:

1) Questions related to k (spring constant)

Part 2.3:

1) Solve questions on Elastic energy.

Part 2.1:
 1) Fill the table below:

k=500 N /m
Force (N) ( y-axis ) Extension(m) Elastic energy
(x-axis)
20 N 0,04 0,4
30N 0,06 0.9
40N 0,08 1.6
50N 0,1 2.5

10) Go to Excel, create a force vs extension of spring graph from the

table you filled.

Slope (k )=
exp Spring constant (k real )
=

Percentage error δ%=

Part 2.2:

1) When increasing the spring constant (k) what do you notice:

 …………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

2) When decreasing the spring constant (k) what do you notice:

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

3) Explain why the formula (F=-kx) is negative in some cases?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

4) A horizontal spring has a spring constant of 80.0 N/m. What force must be
applied to the spring to compress it by 4.0 cm?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

5) A spring is stretched 0.50 m and the force was 30000 N. What is the
spring constant?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Part 2.3:

1) A spring with a constant of 76 N/m is extended by 0.9 m. How much

energy is stored in the extended spring?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

2) A toy rocket-launcher contains a spring with a spring constant of 35 N/m.

How much must the spring be compressed to store 1.5 J of energy?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

3) A box is connected to a spring is extended to 200mm, and it stored 3578J

of energy. Find the force.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

Discussion 5%

Conclusion
Grading criteria:
Part 1.1: Validating Hooke’s Law — 20%
Part 1.2: Determining Unknown Masses — 10%
Part 1.3: Determining Unknown Value of Gravity — 5%
Part 1.4: Analysing Systems of Springs — 5%
Part 2: Elastic Potential Energy — 15%
Discussion и Conclusion — 5%