To find the natural length of the spring
when no force is applied, we can use the information about the lengths under
different forces and apply Hooke's Law.
Given Data
Length with 8 N force (stretched)= 18 cm
Length with 4 N force (compressed)= 15 cm
Let be the natural length of the spring
(the length when no force is applied).
Calculate the Change in Length
1. The change in length when the spring is
stretched by 8 N:
2. The change in length when the spring is
compressed by 4 N:
Set Up Equations Based on Hooke's Law
According to Hooke's Law:
Where:
is the force applied,
is the spring constant,
is the change in length from the
natural length.
For the two scenarios, we have:
1. For the 8 N force:
2. For the 4 N force: