Experiment to demonstrate Hooke's Law
Apparatus
retort stand and clamp, spring, elastic band, 1 newton weights, ruler
Method
| The apparatus was set us as shown |
|
The unextended length of the spring was measured and recorded. A 1 newton weight was hung on the spring and the new length of the srping recorded. This was repeated for weights 2N, 3N, 4N and 5N.
The experiment was repeated with an elastic band in place of the spring.
The results were recorded, the extension of the spring calculated and a graph was drawn of force against extension.
Results
|
Weight (N) |
Spring |
Elastic band | ||
|
Length (cm) |
Extension (cm) |
Length (cm) |
Extension (cm) | |
|
0 |
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1 |
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2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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|
5 |
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Conclusion
We can see from the graphs that the spring produces a straight line while the elastic band produces a curve. Hooke's Law states that:
the extension is directly proportional to the applied force.
This would produce a straight line graph. Therefore, the spring obeys Hooke's Law while the elastic band does not.