Hooke’s Law

Learning objectives:

• To understand what is meant by spring constant
• To understand how spring constant and force affect the extension of an elastic object

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Hooke’s Law describes the behaviour of elastic objects. All elastic objects have a “spring constant”.

Simple investigation: Hooke’s Law

https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/hookes-law/latest/hookes-law_all.html?screens=1

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Turn these on

Play with the simulation and try to answer the question:

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What does spring constant mean?

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Can you explain it in everyday language?

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Can you describe how it affects extension?

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Can you describe it mathematically?

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Can you explain it in everyday language?

Spring constant is how “stiff” a spring is

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Can you describe how it affects extension?

The higher the spring constant, the lower the extension

Low spring constant

High spring constant

Developed as part of an Ogden Trust Senior Teacher Fellowship in partnership with PhET.

Find more resources at pheteffect.com