PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS

(i) Strong material -this is a material that can withstand a large force
without breaking.
(ii) Stiff material – this is a material that is not flexible and cannot bend
or change its shape.
(iii) Ductile material –this is a material that can be changed into various
shapes, sizes and designs by applying some forces eg copper, iron,
plasticine etc. such materials are used to make wires, iron sheets.
(iv) Brittle material – this is a material that are fragile and breaks when
a force is applied eg glass, chalk, biscuits.
(v) Elastic material – this is a material that can stretch or compress
when a force is applied and regain its original shape when the force is
removed eg springs, rubber.
Hooke’s laws deals with these elastic materials
Hooke’s law states that ~ “The extension of a spring is directly
proportional to the force applied, provided the elastic limit is not
exceeded”
F = Ke where F is force,
e is the extension in meters
K is the spring constant.
The SI unit for a spring constant is Newton per meter (N/m.)
A graph of Force (N) against extension (m) is a straightline from the origin
whose gradient is equal to the spring constant.

Force (N)

F
e

Extension (m)
The graph obtained

𝚫𝐅
ie = Spring constant
𝚫𝐞
NOTE: If more masses are added than the spring can hold, the elastic limit is
exceeded and the spring is deformed permanently. This is called plastic
deformation. The graph can no longer follow a straight line after this point
because the spring no longer obeys hooke’s law.

F O R M 2 N O T E S: HOOKES LAW Pg 1
 C
B
Force (N)

A
Extension (m)
Between AB the spring obeys Hooke’s law.
Point B is the elastic limit of the spring.
Elastic limit is the max point which a spring can extend without getting
damaged due to force.
Point C is the maximum point to which the deformed spring can stretch.

EXAMPLE
1. A force of 20N is suspended from a spring. If the spring extends by 25cm,
what is the spring constant?
2. The spring constant of a certain spring is 5000N/m. by what length will it
stretch when a force of 100N is applied.
3. A spring extends by 5cm when a 40N force is applied. By what length will it
extend when the force of 120N.
4. An unloaded spring has a length of 15cm and when a load of 80N it hanged
the length is 21cm.What will be the load on the spring when length is 27cm?
5. The diagram below shows three identical springs which obey Hooke’s law.
Determine the length X.

3cm
8cm
Xcm

50g

110g
158g

EXP TO VERIFY HOOKES LAW

Several masses are hung on a spring and the extension of the spring is noted

Spring

Mass

F O R M 2 N O T E S: HOOKES LAW Pg 2
When a mass is hang on a spring, the spring stretches.
As more masses are added the extension of the spring increases.
Note the initial reading of the pointer before putting any mass call it X.

X =…………………cm
Hang the masses of 50, 100, 150, 120, 250 and 300g.
In each case note the reading on the pointer and call it Y.
NOTE: The extension e of the spring in each case is equal to y– X
Fill the table below.
Mass g Force N ycm X cm e = (y -X) cm e (m)
50 0.5
100 1.0
150 1.5
200 2.0
250 2.5
300 3.0
(i) Plot a graph of Force (N) against extension (m)
(ii) From the graph, determine the spring constant.

COMPRESSING A SPRING
Diff masses are placed at the top of the spring. As the masses are added the spring
compresses more and hence its length reduces.

A
Ruler
Masses
Length (m)

Spring

B
CompressionForce(N)

Between point AB, the spring obeys Hooke’s law.

Beyond Point B the coils of the spring are tightly close to each other and cannot
be compressed further even if more force is applied.

EXAMPLE
1. The diagram below shows the same spring in three different situations;
whenunloaded, when supporting a load of 150g andwhen supporting a
wooden block. Find the mass of the wooden block
Unloaded spring
Block

6cm 150g
4.8cm
3.5cm

F O R M 2 N O T E S: HOOKES LAW Pg 3
2. The diagram below shows three identical springs which obey Hooke’s law.
Determine the length X.

100g
180g

300g
8cm
6cm
X

GRAPHICAL EXAMPLES
1. The following readings were obtained when different masses were hung on a
certain spring.
Mass (g) 0 200 400 600 800

Pointer reading (cm) 11 12.5 141 15.6 17.2

Force (N)
Extension (m)
(i) Plot a graph of Force (N) against extension (m)
Determine from the graph
(ii) The spring constant
(iii) What force would be required to produce an extension of 0.025m?

2. The table below has a data recorded for a compressional force on a spring
Force F (N) 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 40
Length of spring (cm) 16.5 13.6 10 7.4 5 4 4 4

(i) Plot a graph of Length versus Force applied on the spring.

(ii) From your graph determine the spring constant.

FACTORS THAT DETERMINE THE STRENGTH OF A SPRING CONSTANT:

~ Number of coils making the spring~ the more the coils, the
less the spring constant and hence the more the extension
~ Length of the spring~the longer the spring, the less the spring
constant and hence the more the extension
~ Diameter of the spring~the larger the diameter, the less the spring
constant and hence the more the extension.
~ Thickness of the wire making the spring~the thicker the wire,
the higher the spring constant and hence the less the extension
~ The nature (element)of material

F O R M 2 N O T E S: HOOKES LAW Pg 4
SPRINGS IN PARALLEL AND SERIES ARRANGEMENT
Parallel arrangement
For a parallel arrangement all the springs have to be identical ie have the same
spring constant.

K K K K

FORCE
Theparallel springs share the force applied equally.The spring constant is equal to
the sum total of the constants of each spring ie in the above arrangement the
spring constant is 4k.
Since F = Ke thus F =4Ke
And if there are 3 springs then F = 3Ke
And if there are n springs then F = nKe
EXAMPLES
1. Four identical springs are arranged in parallel and a force of 200N applied. If
the spring const of each is 500N/m. Find the extension of each spring.
2. Two identical spring of spring constant2000N/m are arranged in parallel. By
what length does each of the spring extend when a force of 100N is hang
between them.
3. Three identical springs of spring const 300 N/marranged in parallel extends
by 0.5cm. What is the force applied.
4. When a force of 20N is applied on a spring X, it extends by 4cm. Five such
springs identical to X are arranged in parallel and a force of 75N applied.
Find the extension of each spring.

Springs in series arrangement

K1

K2

K3

FORCE
Each spring extends independently from the other depending with its spring
constant.The total extension for the springs in series is equal sum total of
extension of each spring.

F O R M 2 N O T E S: HOOKES LAW Pg 5
 𝐅
Since F =Ke then extension e=
𝐊

e= 𝐊𝐅 + 𝐊𝐅 + 𝐊𝐅
𝟏 𝟐 𝟑

EXAMPLES
1. Two springs of springs constant 80N/m and 40N/m are arranged series and
a weight of 60N applied. Calculate the total extension of the springs.
2. Three identical spring of constant 250N/m are arranged in series and a force
of 150N hang under. Calculate the total extension of the springs.
3. In the arrangement below,
springs A,B and C have a spring
const of 200N/m while D and E
have a spring constant of
50N/m. Calculatethe total extension of the
system.

A B C 5. Three identical springs A, B and C

of spring constant 500N/m are
used to support a 12N weight as
shown. If the weight of the beam
D E is 0.5N, determine the extension
of the system.

30N
A B
Beam
Calculate
i) The total extension of springs AB C
and C
ii) The total extension of spring D 12N
and E
iii) The total extension of the 6. The springs A, B, C and D are
system. identical. When a force of 50N is
iv) Calculate the combined spring suspended on any of the spring,
constant of theset-up. it extends by 2cm. Determine
the extension of the system
4. The spiral springs below shows
the six identical. Each spring has
an elastic Constant of 100N/m A B
Determine the total extension
caused by the 120N weight C

D
Z W X 50N

7. The figure belowshows the

W V variation of force against
extension.

U
Force (N)
F O R M 2 N O T E S: HOOKES LAW Pg 6
120N
 Sketch on the same axis the graph of
force against extension when
(i) Two such springs are connected
in series
(ii) Two such springs are connected
in parallel

F O R M 2 N O T E S: HOOKES LAW Pg 7