# Interactive Science Lessons/Hooke's Law/Getting started

 Hooke's Law Introduction | Getting started | The simulation | Lesson tasks | Conclusion | Resources and links
 [[w:Hooke's Law|Hooke's Law]] Wikipedia has an article on this subject. Visit [[w:Hooke's Law|Hooke's Law]] for more in depth information

### What do I need?

To complete these activities you will need:

• Pencil/pen and paper or a text editor
• Calculator

### Overview

The Hooke's law interactive science activity consists of:

• An exploration of the simulation.
• A short multichoice question to help you determine which of the main activities you should try.
• The main activity where you will verify Hooke's law by determining the spring constant for Spring #1. It consists of:
• Calculating the weight of each mass
• Measuring displacements with a "virtual" ruler for several masses.
• Recording your results in a data table.
• Calculating the slope of "best" fit line.
• Determining the spring constant for Spring #1 including the units.
• Checking the value of the spring constant with the theoretical value.

### How long will it take?

These activities should take you between 30 and 45 minutes to complete. If you are far from completion after 40 minutes you should contact your teacher.

# Preknowledge

 Essential  * Mass * Weight * Displacement * Force * Free Body Diagram * Equilibrium * Slope * Click and Drag  Optional  * Period 

### Multichoice Question

What is answer best describes the phrase "Click and Drag"?

 (a) A mouse trap snaps closed. The mouse walks away dragging the cheese. (b) Navigate the cursor over the object you wish to move. Click and hold the (left) mouse button. Drag to object to the desired location. Release the mouse button.

# Reflection

 For our purposes it is a computer related term. Thus choice (b) is the best answer.

If you are uncomfortable with the concept of weight, you should try this question.

### Multichoice Question

An astronaut, whos mass is 100 kg, lands on the planet Helicon. The acceleration due to gravity on Helicon is 5 m s-2. What is the best answer for the astronauts weight on the planet Helicon?

 (a) 5 N (b) 500 N (c) 100 N

# Reflection

 The force is the mass multiplied by the acceleration. Thus choice (b) is the best answer.

If you are uncomfortable with the concept of slope, you should try this question before moving on.

### Multichoice Question

A straight line on a graph rises 6 metres while it runs 2 seconds. What is the best answer for the slope of the line?

 (a) 3 metres/second (b) 1/3 seconds/metre (c) 3 m

# Reflection

 The slope is defined as the rise divided by the run. Thus choice (a) is the best answer.