• Question: Can you explain what Hooke's Law is please. I'm not sure if this is related to Engineering or not, sorry.

    Asked by 449heab35 to Naomi on 7 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Naomi Green

      Naomi Green answered on 7 Mar 2015:

      Yes sure Hooke’s Law is used by mechanical engineers a lot!

      If you extend a spring then the force acting on it to pull it back is related to both the stiffness of the spring and the distance that you have extended it by. If we write that in equation form, F is the Force, k is the stiffness of the spring, x is the distance you have extended the spring by,

      F=-kx

      The negative is in there because you have extended the spring in one direction but the Force is acting in the opposite direction to pull it back.

      Does that help? If not let me know and I will try again!

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