how to find spring constant with mass

Since the springs have different spring constants, the displacements are different. 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 it were so, the spring would elongate to infinity. F = k x. Determine the displacement in the spring, the distance by which it is compressed or stretched. The unloaded length of a spring is measured. As a formula, it reworks Hooke's Law . F = 150 0.8. and x is the displacement of the spring from its equilibrium position.. In other words, it describes how stiff a spring is and how much it will stretch or compress. The load applies a force of 2N on the spring. But, if you continue to apply the force beyond the elastic limit, the spring with not return to its original pre-stretched state and will be permanently damaged. Assuming these shock absorbers use springs, each one has to support a mass of at least 250 kilograms, which weighs the following:\r\n\r\nF = mg = (250 kg)(9.8 m/s²) = 2,450 N\r\n\r\nwhere F equals force, m equals the mass of the object, and g equals the acceleration due to gravity, 9.8 meters per second². On the other hand, compression corresponds to a negative value for x, and then the force acts in the positive direction, again towards x = 0. When an object applies a force to a spring, then the spring applies an equal and opposite force to the object. How to Calculate a Spring Constant Using Hooke's Law For a mass attached to a spring, the period of oscillation is equal to 2 (m/k). If the force constant of the spring of 250 N/m and the mass is 0.5 kg, determine (a) the mechanical energy of the system, (b) the maximum speed of the mass, and (c) the maximum acceleration. 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. The value of this constant depends on the qualities of the specific spring, and this can be directly derived from the properties of the spring if needed. Assume that the spring was un-stretched before the body was released. The variables of the equation are F, which represents force, k, which is called the spring constant and measures how stiff and strong the spring is, and x, the distance the spring is stretched or compressed away from its equilibrium or rest position.\r\n\r\nThe force exerted by a spring is called a restoring force; it always acts to restore the spring toward equilibrium. Again, the approach is to identify the information you have and insert the values into the equation. Imagine that you pull a string to your right, making it stretch. Frequency of the resulting SHM. He was a contributing editor at PC Magazine and was on the faculty at both MIT and Cornell. Here, you can see that PEel = 50 J and x = 0.5 m. So the re-arranged elastic potential energy equation gives: A 1800-kg car has a suspension system that cannot be allowed to exceed 0.1 m of compression. which when substituted into the motion equation gives: Looking only at the magnitudes and therefore omitting the negative sign, you get\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nTime to plug in the numbers:\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe springs used in the shock absorbers must have spring constants of at least 4,900 newtons per meter. Click on little black button at the top front of the right hand car to activate the spring loaded plunger that . Sure, you say. How do you find the spring constant for a spring? Mass on a spring - Where a mass m attached to a spring with spring constant k, will oscillate with a period (T). The variables of the equation are F, which represents force, k, which is called the spring constant and measures how stiff and strong the spring is, and x, the distance the spring is stretched or compressed away from its equilibrium or rest position. . You find the spring constant by suspending weights from the spring, recording the extensions and plotting a graph. Hooke's law is actually pretty limited. The car designers rush out, ecstatic, but you call after them, Dont forget, you need to at least double that if you actually want your car to be able to handle potholes.","description":"Any physicist knows that if an object applies a force to a spring, then the spring applies an equal and opposite force to the object. This "spring-mass system" is illustrated in Figure 13.1.1. the rotational analog of spring constant is known as rotational stiffness. In order to figure out how to calculate the spring constant, we must remember what Hookes law says: Now, we need to rework the equation so that we are calculating for the missing metric, which is the spring constant, or k. Looking only at the magnitudes and therefore omitting the negative sign, you get, The springs used in the shock absorbers must have spring constants of at least 4,900 newtons per meter. Similarly, when a material reaches its elastic limit, it wont respond like a spring and will instead be permanently deformed. The law, while very useful in many elastic materials, called linear elastic or Hookean materials, doesnt apply to every situation and is technically an approximation. The work-energy theorem is certainly the easiest way to do the problem, but you can also solve it by calculating the force. . He has authored Dummies titles including Physics For Dummies and Physics Essentials For Dummies. Dr. Holzner received his PhD at Cornell.