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Spring Force (Hooke's Law) definitions

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  • Hooke's Law
    Describes the proportional relationship between spring force and displacement from equilibrium.
  • Spring Constant
    A measure of a spring's stiffness, denoted by k, with units in newtons per meter (N/m).
  • Displacement
    The distance a spring is stretched or compressed from its equilibrium position.
  • Equilibrium Position
    The position where a spring is neither compressed nor stretched, and displacement is zero.
  • Restoring Force
    The force exerted by a spring to return to its equilibrium position, opposing deformation.
  • Deformation
    The change in length of a spring from its equilibrium position due to applied force.
  • Mass-Spring System
    A system where a mass is attached to a spring, used to study oscillatory motion.
  • Action-Reaction Pair
    A pair of forces where one force is exerted by a spring and the other by an external agent.
  • Compression
    The act of pressing a spring, reducing its length from the equilibrium position.
  • Stretching
    The act of pulling a spring, increasing its length from the equilibrium position.
  • Magnitude
    The absolute value of a force or displacement, disregarding direction.
  • Newton
    The SI unit of force, symbolized as N, representing the force needed to accelerate 1 kg by 1 m/s².
  • Acceleration
    The rate of change of velocity of an object, calculated using spring force and mass.
  • Force Constant
    Another term for spring constant, indicating the stiffness of a spring.
  • Oscillatory Motion
    The repetitive back-and-forth movement of a mass-spring system around equilibrium.