Hooke's Law states that the restoring force of a spring is directly proportional to a small displacement. In equation form, we write
F = -kx
where x is the size of the displacement. The proportionality constant k is specific for each spring.
The object of this virtual lab is to determine the spring constant k.
Displacement is measured in centimeters. Each of the blue weights has a mass of 50 grams. The gray virtual weight hanger has no mass.
Snapshots of the lab are found in the four figures that follow.