Hooke’s Law

Discuss with your

partner :
1) Who this is?
2) What could the
learning objectives of
today’s lesson could
be?
 Lesson Objective / We Are Learning
Today
To revise and revisit the relationship between Force and
extension of a spring.
Summarize how this relationship can be demonstrated in a
line graph.
Lesson Outcome / What I’m Looking
For
• All pupils will be able to clarify Hooke’s law and
identify the point on a graph, where Hooke’s law
no longer applies.

• Most pupils will be able to successfully use the

equation to work out the spring constant of a
spring when a force is applied.
 Hooke’s Law
In the 1600s, a scientist called
Robert Hooke discovered a law
for elastic materials.

Let’s check what you already

know:
At the back of your book, write
down ‘true or false’ for each of
these sentences.
If you get 4 wrong, we need to
revisit the topic.
 True or False
1. If a material returns to its original size and shape when you remove the
forces stretching it, we say that the material is demonstrating elastic
behaviour. True
False
2. If you apply too big a force a material will never loses its elasticity.
3. Hooke discovered that the amount a spring stretches is proportional to
the amount of force applied to it.
4. Being proportional means if you double the force on a spring, its
extension will triple.
5. A plastic (or inelastic) material is one that stays deformed after you have
taken the force away.
6. When you add weight to a spring it gets longer.
7. compression happens when the material or object is squashed.A change
in shape like this is called deformation.
8. The extension of a material or a spring is its increase in length when
pulled.
9. The force and extension graph is a wobbly line.
10. In a force-extension graph, the steeper the line, the stiffer is the spring.
 Answers
1. True
2. False
3. True
4. False
5. True
6. True
7. True
8. True
9. True
10.False
11.True
 Hooke’s Law
• Hooke discovered that the amount a spring stretches is
proportional to the amount of force applied to it.

• This means if you double the force its extension will double, if you
triple the force the extension will triple and so on.

• Task: Discuss with your partner if this law will

be obeyed if you keep stretching the spring.
The elastic limit can be seen on the graph.
This is where it stops obeying Hookes law.
 Elastic behaviour – Car Safety
• Elastic behaviour is very • Why have seat belts that
important in car safety, as are elastic?
car seatbelts are made from • Why not just have very
elastic materials. However, rigid seatbelts that would
after a crash they must be keep you firmly in place?
replaced as they will go • The reason for this, is that it
past their elastic limit. would be very dangerous
and cause large injuries.
This is because it would
slow your body down too
quickly. The quicker a
collision, the bigger the
force that is produced.
 You can write Hooke's law as an
equation:
F=k∆x
Where:
• F is the applied force (in newtons, N),
• x is the extension (in metres, m) and
• k is the spring constant (in N/m).
• The extension ∆x (delta-x) is sometimes
written e or ∆l. You find the extension from:
• ∆x = stretched length – original length.
 Hold on a minute, K? Spring
Constant?!
• The spring constant measures how stiff the spring is.
• The larger the spring constant the stiffer the spring.
• You may be able to see this by looking at the graphs below:

k is measured in units of newtons per metre (Nm -1).

 TASK
• Revision placemats
• With your partner complete the placemat.
• 5 mins- with your partner
• Next 5 mins- Find someone who…
• Last 5 mins- Help someone who…
 Example
• A spring is 0.38m long. When it is pulled by a force of
2.0 N, it stretches to 0.42 m. What is the spring
constant? Assume the spring behaves elastically.
Extension, ∆x = Stretched length – Original length =
. 0.42m – 0.38m = 0.04 m
F=k∆x
So, k = 2.0 N
2.0N = k x 0.04m 0.04 m
= 50 N m-1
 Key Definitions
• Hooke’s Law = The amount a
spring stretches is proportional F=k∆x
to the amount of force applied
to it.
• The spring constant measures
how stiff the spring is. The
larger the spring constant the
stiffer the spring.
• A Diagram to show Hooke’s
Law
Further Study: To Watch
•The story of scientist Robert Hooke and
the jealous rival who erased him from
public consciousness after his death -
Isaac Newton.
•Newton plagiarised Hooke and conspired
to destroy his reputation. Robert Hooke
was "robbed of the credit" for the inverse
square law of gravity and wiped from the
pages of history. No wonder Newton
never had a mechanism.
•Hooke's achievements were
extraordinary - he made the first powerful
microscope and wrote the first scientific
best-seller, Micrographia.
•A drama revealing the extraordinary,
prolific, bizarre and conflict-riddled life of
Robert Hooke, one of the greatest
scientists in English history, on the
tercentenary of his death.
Further Study: To Read
• The Curious Life of Robert
Hooke: The Man Who
Measured London
• Author: Lisa Jardine
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: February
1, 2005
 Bibliography

• K Johnson et al (2000) Advanced Physics for You.

Nelson Thornes Ltd.
• England's Leonardo: Robert Hooke and the
Seventeenth-century Scientific Revolution, Allan
Chapman. Institute of Physics Publishing, 2004
• http://www.s-cool.co.uk/alevel/physics/deformation-
of-solids/hookes-law.html#hookes-law

• http://forum.esoft.in/misc-tv-videos/71356-bbc-four-
robert-hooke-victim-genius-2009-a.html (For
Information on Hooke vs Newton video)