Objective:

• Determine the spring constant of a spring

Resources

• Vertically-mounted ruler with hook
• Spring with hook
• 50g Mass hanger and masses (e.g. 10g, 20g, 50g)
• Software to analyze your data, such as Excel or Origin
  • Simplify Calculations with Spreadsheets
  • Graph and Analyze Data with a Spreadsheet

Background

Most springs that are compressed or stretched a distance x from its relaxed length will resist with a force that is linearly proportional to x, as long as the amount of stretch/compression doesn’t deform the material of the spring. The proportionality constant k is called the spring stiffness constant or just the spring constant. The equation for the spring’s restoring force, also known as Hooke’s Law, is F=-kx.

Hints/Guideposts

• You should understand how to estimate and propagate measurement uncertainty for this lab.
• For equations of the form f=xy or f=x/y the propagated uncertainty is \left(\frac{\sigma_f}{f}\right)^2=\left(\frac{\sigma_x}{x}\right)^2+\left(\frac{\sigma_y}{y}\right)^2