how to find spring constant with mass

\u00a9 2023 wikiHow, Inc. All rights reserved. The first graph is measuring displacement vs mass. He was a contributing editor at PC Magazine and was on the faculty at both MIT and Cornell. When the force that causes the deformation disappears, the spring comes back to its initial shape, provided the elastic limit was not exceeded. Spring force is the force required or exerted to compress or stretch a spring upon any object that is attached to it. Find. Then the applied force is 28N for a 0.7 m displacement. where F equals force, m equals the mass of the object, and g equals the acceleration due to gravity, 9.8 meters per second2. The gravitational force, or weight of the mass m acts downward and has magnitude mg, spring-mass system. They inform you that the car will have a mass of 1,000 kilograms, and you have four shock absorbers, each 0.5 meters long, to work with. Round answer to two significant digits. He's written about science for several websites including eHow UK and WiseGeek, mainly covering physics and astronomy. Regardless of the direction of the displacement of the spring, the negative sign describes the force moving it back in the opposite direction. Sure, you say. Understanding springs and their direction of force. Dummies helps everyone be more knowledgeable and confident in applying what they know. Hence, the spring will apply an equal and opposite force of - 2N. How to find the spring constant (example problem) F = mg = (250 kg)(9.8 m/s 2) = 2,450 N. where F equals force, m equals the mass of the object, and g equals the acceleration due to gravity, 9.8 meters per second 2. F is the spring force (in N); Elastic potential energy is another important concept relating to Hookes law, and it characterizes the energy stored in the spring when its extended or compressed that allows it to impart a restoring force when you release the end. The work-energy theorem is certainly the easiest way to do the problem, but you can also solve it by calculating the force. The spring constant is $250 $ N m$^{-1}$. proportionality constant k is specific for each spring. This image is not<\/b> licensed under the Creative Commons license applied to text content and some other images posted to the wikiHow website. If you pull a spring too far, it loses its stretchy ability. From engines, appliances, tools, vehicles, and medical instrumentsdown to simple ball-point pens, the familiar metal coil has become an indispensable component in the modern world. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. By entering your email address and clicking the Submit button, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Dummies.com, which may include marketing promotions, news and updates. Step 2: Use Hooke's Law equation to find the spring force. Assuming the kinetic energy stays constant (spring-mass is motionless at equilibrium and held in place when stretched), the work done contributes only to increasing the potential energy of the spring-mass system. However, after the limit of proportionality for the material in question, the relationship is no longer a straight-line one, and Hookes law ceases to apply. Thank you very much for your cooperation. The spring in the shock absorber will, at a minimum, have to give you 2,450 newtons of force at the maximum compression of 0.5 meters. Hence, we have a final answer. In order to figure out how to calculate the spring constant, we must remember what Hookes law says:\r\n\r\nF = kx\r\n\r\nNow, we need to rework the equation so that we are calculating for the missing metric, which is the spring constant, or k. Elastic deformation occurs when the stress is removed. Using Hookes law is the simplest approach to finding the value of the spring constant, and you can even obtain the data yourself through a simple setup where you hang a known mass (with the force of its weight given by F = mg) from a spring and record the extension of the spring. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/6\/63\/Find-Spring-Constant-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Find-Spring-Constant-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/6\/63\/Find-Spring-Constant-Step-1.jpg\/v4-728px-Find-Spring-Constant-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"