Linear and Non-Linear Relationships
INTRODUCTION
Many physical quantities may be examined by
putting the data in a graphical form and then
attempting to find a mathematical functional
relationship between the variables, which are
plotted. In this experiment, we will
investigate the relationship between the
change in length of a spring and the force
(weight) applied to it.
An applied force may deform an object in
several ways. The object may be
compressed, stretched, bent or twisted.
Hooke’s law describes the relationship
between the applied force and the amount of
deformation of the object. The stretching of
a spring is a good example of Hooke’s law. A
mass hanging on a spring causes the spring
to stretch. More mass will cause the spring
to stretch still more. Hooke’s law indicates
that the elongation of the spring, x, is
directly proportional to the force applied by
the hanging mass. We can write this as an
equality given by
F  kx
Where k is a constant called the “spring
constant” whose value depends on the type
of spring used.
Please note the form of Hooke’s law, In class
you have discussed the equation of a line. It
was
Y= m X + b
Do you see a similarity? These are both
LINEAR equations. That is a fancy way of
stating that they both describe a line.
If you don’t see that these two equations are
the same, write them down side by side on a
piece of paper. You should note that F is in
the same position as Y is in the second
equation. The same thing should be noted
for X and x.
So what is b (the y intercept) in Hooke’s law?
It is zero. What does this mean? It is a
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statement that tells us that if no Force is
applied to the spring, that there will be no
elongation of the spring. This should come
at no surprise to you.
Finally, m (the slope of a y vs. x graph) is
equivalent to k (the spring constant) in
Hooke’s law, so the slope of a graph of Force
vs. elongation
In this experiment you will study Hooke’s law
by observing the change in length of a spring
when masses are suspended from it. Care
must be taken to insure that too great a force
is not applied to the spring. When a spring is
stretched beyond its elastic limit, it will not
return to its original length when the force is
removed. It will be permanently deformed
and will no longer obey Hooke’s law.
Unfortunately, not all materials in nature
obey Hooke’s law when they are deformed.
(much to the scientist’s dismay –i.e. the
world would be much simpler if they did )
However it would still be useful to model
these materials even though their properties
are uglier then a simple linear relation. So
we would have to add additional terms onto
our equation. The next higher term is a
quadratic term so our equation for our curve
(note: it is no longer a line) is
y  ax 2  mx  b
This processes of adding terms can continue forever
adding progressively more complex terms such as:
y  cx 4  ex3  ax 2  mx  b  ...
For today however we will stop with the quadratic term.
We will call objects which obey Hooke’s law as having
a linear relationship (remember they would graph to a
straight line on a Force vs. x plot), and those objects
which do not have a graph of a straight line as having a
non-linear relationship.
PROCEDURE
.1 Suspend a spring and a weight pan from
the short rod as shown in the illustration.
.2 Place a meter stick along the long metal
rod so that the end marked 0 cm is
toward the ceiling. Use a rubber band to
hold the meter stick in place as shown.
.3 Read the position of the bottom of the
weight pan by looking at the markings on
the meter stick. This is the reading with
no load on the pan. Record this reading
on the data sheet.
.4 Place a 150g mass on the pan and read
and record the new position of the pan.
Also record the mass and calculate the
force it causes on the spring.
.5 Mass and Force are two separate
concepts in Physics. The force, which we
are concerned with in this experiment, is
the force of gravity acting on the added
mass. This force is called weight (NOTE:
MASS AND WEIGHT ARE NOT THE SAME
QUANTITY). In order to calculate the
weight from the mass we will use
Newton’s second law.
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F  mass * g
F  mg
(Use g = 10 m/s2 ; then the force of the
spring (weight) is m * g or m * 10 m/s2.)
.6 Subtract the value of the position of the
pan with no load from the position found
in Step 4. The difference is the
elongation of the spring. Record this
elongation.
.7 Place additional masses in 50-gram
increments on the pan and record the
new positions. Calculate and record the
force caused by the total mass on the
pan. Also calculate and record the
elongation of the spring.
.8 On a sheet of graph paper, plot a graph of
force vs. elongation. This means on the
x-axis you plot X, and on the y-axis you
plot the weight on the spring.
.9 Use your data and the CRICKET GRAPH
to construct a graph of force vs.
elongation. Select Curve Fit/Simple from
the main menu. The equation for a line is
y = mx + b where m is the slope. (WHAT
plotting program does OHS use)
.10 Repeat Steps 1 - 7 replacing the spring
with a rubber band and using mass
increments of 50 grams.
11. Plot your data for the rubber band as
you did for the spring data. Note that
if you try to fit the data with a line,
the fit is very poor. Now use a
quadratic fit. What do you observe?
 DATA SHEET

Name: ___________________________

Section: __________________________

Elastic Spring
Reading with no load _________ (cm)

Mass Mass on spring Force on  Reading with Elongation 

(g) (kg) spring load of spring
(N) (cm) (cm)

0 0 0 0

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

QUESTIONS

)1 What is the relationship between the elongation of the spring and the weight
attached to the spring? How does your graph support or refute your answer?

)2 What is the spring constant for your spring?

)3 Looking at your graph for the spring, what do you predict to be the elongation of your
spring when loaded with a weight of 0.2, 2.0, and 4.0 Newtons?

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Experiment 9
DATA SHEET

Rubber Band
Reading with no load _________ (cm)

Mass Mass on spring Force on  Reading with Elongation 

(g) (kg) spring load of spring
(N) (cm) (cm)

0 0 0 0

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

QUESTIONS:
)1 Was the graph of elongation versus force for the rubber band a straight
line? In other words, is the elongation of your rubber band proportional to
the force exerted? If not, then it doesn’t follow Hooke’s law; state a reason
why.

)2 Can you find a “spring constant” for the rubber band? If not, why?

)3 What would finally happen to the spring if you continue to add additional
weights to the spring? What do we call this effect? And to the rubber
band?