Unofre B Pili
This article details the use of the concept of the work done by a variable force in measuring the spring constant of the spring in a spring-mass system. The raw data used in the experiment is similar to the one used in measuring the same quantity, but by directly invoking Hooke’s law, in which the slope of the linear plot of the applied force as a function of the spring elongation directly yields the spring constant. Slightly different, the work done approach showed in this article allows for the measurement of the spring constant by plotting the work done of the applied force as a function of the square of the elongation. The result is accurate to within less than 1.00%. Aside from a work-based determination of a spring constant, the current lab activity can be regarded as a demonstration of the concept of the work done by a variable force as well. Moreover, the concept of the integral of a function—as well as that of the area of the triangle—being equal to the area bounded by the graph of the same function has an appearance in this paper. Therefore, the potential utility of this work as a physics-based illustration of the area of the triangle and of one of the fundamentals of integral calculus. © 2023 IOP Publishing Ltd.
Department of Physics, University of San Carlos, Cebu City, 6000, Philippines
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