Name ______________________________
Ms. Sabbatino
Date ___________
Period _________
Lab #12:
Hooke’s Law Lab
Goals:
1. To determine which objects follow Hooke’s Law
2. To determine the spring constant of an ideal spring
3. To determine the energy stored in the spring
Background/theory:
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Materials:
- Ruler
- Spring
- Ring stand
- Mass set
- Rubber band
- Masking tape
Lab Setup: Draw AND LABEL the setup
1
Procedure:
1. Hang the spring vertically from the ring stand
2. Use a piece of masking tape or piece of paper and fix it behind the spring so that you can
mark the change in length of the spring
3. Choose a point on the spring that you will used to mark its position during all trials.
4. Mark the natural length of the spring
5. Add _______g to the end of the spring and mark its new position.
6. Repeat step 5 until you have 10 data points
7. Remove all weights and note the natural length of the spring after it was stretched out
8. Repeat the ENTIRE process for the rubber band.
Data
Spring
Original natural spring length _________
Final natural spring length _________
Mass (kg)
Force (N)
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
Change in length (cm)
Change in length (m)
0.3
0.6
0.95
1.2
1.6
1.8
2.1
2.5
2.8
3.0
Rubber Band
Original natural rubber band length _________
Final natural rubber band length _________
Mass (kg)
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
Force (N)
Change in length (cm)
0.15
0.35
0.6
0.9
1.5
6.0
12.0
19.0
27.0
37.0
2
Change in length (m)
Analysis:
In the space below you will create two separate graphs, one for the spring and one for the rubber
band. The two quantities you will graph are the force applied and the change in length. Please
me sure to
□ put the quantities on the appropriate axis
□ include units
□ make an appropriate title
3
4
Calculations: show all calculations for each of the columns including formula, substitution with
units and answer with units.
Spring
Rubber Band
Based on the graph, does a spring follow
Based on the graph, does a rubber band
Hooke’s Law? HOW DO YOU KNOW?
follow Hooke’s Law? HOW DO YOU
KNOW?
Spring
Using your graph, calculate the spring
constant of your spring.
Spring
Using your graph, calculate the energy
stored in the spring at its maximum
elongation.
5
Conclusion:
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