Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan
LESSON PRESENTATION
TIME CONTENT TEACHING/LEARNING T/L RESOURCES
ACTIVITY
5MINUTES INTRODUCTION Comprehensive secondary
Review of prior learnt knowledge about Listening and answering physics students book 2 pages
Forces and their effects on object. questions 60-61
Secondary physics KLB
State that as more mass is added to a spring
students book 2 page 95 -
the extension become larger
97
Simulation from Phet
Introduce the Hooke’s Law
lab/https://phet.colorado.edu
- Learners:
- Listening and taking
notes.
- Observing and
answering questions
Extension(m) - Asking questions
- Making
Stating the Hooke’s Law: observations and
“Hooke’s law states that the strain of the record the data from
material is proportional to the applied the simulation.
stress within the elastic limit of that Observe how the
material.” length was affected
by the amount of
masses added to the
spring.
- Draw a graph to
show results from
the result table in the
worksheet
- Write a conclusion.
REMARKS: All pupils, except for Alfred, met the learning outcomes and were able to describe the
relationship between the Force and extension in the spring. Alfred had some difficulty in interpreting the
graph of the Hooke’s law.
• Taking the lesson to the laboratory and let the students perform the practical on Hooke’s law.
• Make sure Alfred has an opportunity to catch up before we continue next week. Perhaps the
classroom assistant should spend 30 minutes with Alfred to go through the graph.
WORKSHEET
Introduction
Hooke’s Law teaches us how springs can store and use potential energy. It is expressed as a ratio of the
force needed to stretch a spring and the distance it is stretched:
F
k = Where “k” is the spring’s constant, a value that is the same for the spring no matter how much
x
force is acting on it; “F” is the force used to displace the spring, and “x” is the distance the spring is
displaced, in meters. The units for spring constant are N/m.
In this simulation lab, you will calculate the spring constants of three different springs, one with a low
spring constant, one with a medium spring constant, and one with a large spring constant. You will then
use those spring constants to find the mass of three unknown weights.
Steps
1. This whole lab can be done from the “Intro” page, so click that. Spend some time playing with
the springs and seeing how they work. Clicking “Natural Length”, “Equilibrium Position” and
using the ruler can help you find the displacement of the spring.
2. When you are ready to begin the lab, turn on the “Natural Length”, “Equilibrium Position” and
use the ruler. Start with 50 grams (0.05 kg) and the Spring Constant slid all the way down to
small. Use this and your Weight formula to find the force pulling on the spring, and measure
how many meters the spring is displaced. Click the Stop Sign at the top to get it to stop
oscillating. Remember, divide by 100 to convert cm to m! Add this to your data table below,
and use these values to calculate the spring constant. Repeat with 100 g (0.1 kg) and 250g (0.25
kg), and find the average of all the spring constants that you calculated.
0.05 kg
0.1 kg
0.25 kg
Average:
Weight/Force
Mass (kg) Gravity (g) Displacement (m) Spring Constant (N/m)
(N)
0.05 kg
0.1 kg
0.25 kg
Average:
3. Repeat the lab with the spring constant set halfway between “Small” and “Large”.
Spring Constant Set Halfway between Small and Large
4. And repeat once more with the Spring Constant set all the way up to “Large”
Spring Constant
Mass (kg) Gravity (g) Weight/Force (N) Displacement (m)
(N/m)
0.05 kg
0.1 kg
0.25 kg
Average:
5. Now we’ll find the mass of the three “Mystery Weights” That are provided. Since we now know
the spring constant (or at least an average) we can work backwards to find the mass.
Rearranging Hooke’s Law, we have:
F=kx
And using the weight in place of force, we get:
W =kx
kx
mg=kxm=
g
So we’ll multiply the spring constant you found above by the displacement, then divide that by
gravity to get the mass of our “mystery masses”. Fill in the data table below, being careful to use
meters and kilograms.
“The larger the Spring Constant, the (Stiffer/ Looser) the spring, and the (More/Less) force is required to
get it to be displaced.”