Introduction:

Hooks law states that the formation or elongation produced in any object
is directly proportional to the force applied to that object. In this lab, we
examine the relationship between force and the elongation on two different
springs and a rubber band. We had to measure the length of how far do the
springs and rubber band stretched.
Procedure:
1. Choose the small spring to start with and then attach it to the clamp to
the ring stand.
2. Put 0.400 kg to the short spring as a pre-load in order to allow the spring
to stretch with every increase in mass as we put on the string. The preload will remain attached to the spring for all subsequent loads.
3. Measure the length of spring with the meter stick.
4. Add 0.200 kg to the bottom of the spring and record the springs
elongation in the table.
5. Remove the 0.200 kg mass and add a 0.400 kg mass. Record the springs
elongation.
6. Repeat the above procedure, taking off the previous mass and adding
0.500kg, 0.600kg, 0.800kg and 1.000kg to the spring. Record the springs
elongation.
7. Repeat step 1-6 for the long spring and the rubber band using a pre-load
of 0.200kg for the long spring and 0.50kg for the rubber band.

Questions:
2. From the plot of your graphs, describe the relationship between Force
(stress) and Elongation (strain) for an object that obeys Hookes Law.
The relationship between force and elongation is linear (a direct
relationship).
3. Which of the three tested objects obeyed Hookes Law? How can you tell?
The short and long springs obey Hookes Law while the rubber band does

not. Hookes law states that elongation is directly proportional to the

force and therefore the graph needs to be linear. However, only the
graphs for the short and long springs have a linear best fit line. The
graph for a rubber band has a nonlinear best fit line.
4. What information can be obtained from the slope of a Force vs. Elongation
graph?
Spring constant
5. For each of your objects (springs and or rubber band) that obey Hookes
Law, using your graph of Force vs. Elongation, calculate the spring constant
k. Show all work.
Short springs:
F =

kx

Long springs:
F=

4.5 N=k 5 cm

k = 0.9

kx
N=k cm

k=

6. Knowing that both the long spring and short spring in this lab experiment
are the same material and design (just different lengths) explain what
happens to the spring constant k, of a spring if the spring is cut to 1/2 its
original length?
The spring constant k will be doubled.
7. What is meant by the elastic limit of an object? What might happen to a
bridge that has exceeded its elastic limit?
Elastic limit is the maximum stress or force per unit area within a solid
material that can arise before the onset of permanent deformation. If a
bridge has exceeded its elastic limit, it will collapse.
Conclusion:
In this lab, I learned to draw the graphs for object that obey Hookes Law
like the short and long springs and the graph for an object that does not
obey the Law like the rubber band. Besides, I learnt the Hookes Law and its

equation F = kx. I also learnt that the relationship between force and
elongation is linear (a direct relationship). Although this lab is not so
difficult, there are also some human errors. For example, some of us may not
look at the scale of the ruler at eye level so there is an inaccurate result.