Forces & Elasticity (AQA GCSE Physics Combined Science): Revision Notes
📚 Revision Notes
5.3.5 Required Practical: Investigating Force & Extension
Required Practical – Elasticity
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You need to be familiar with the practical method to investigate the relationship between force and extension (Hooke's law)
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Using an elastic material, such as a spring, add masses to the spring and measure the extension with each mass added.
Plotting a graph of force and extension should produce a directly proportional line as shown in the Hooke's law section above. The gradient of the line is equal to the spring constant of the spring used In the experiment.
Possible causes of error in the experiment include:
- Inaccurate measurement of the length or extension due to human error
- Stretching the spring past it's elastic limit, at which point the relationship between force and extension is no longer proportional and the spring does not return to it's original size when the masses are removed