Question

Hooke's Law says that the force exerted by the spring in a spring scale varies directly with the distance that the spring is stretched. Iſa 23 pound mass suspended on a spring scale stretches the spring 7 inches, how far will a 36 pound mass stretch the spring? Round your answer to one decimal place if necessary.

Answer 1

Let the force = f and the distance = d

the force exerted by the spring in a spring scale varies directly with the distance that the spring is stretched.

So,

f = c * d

Where c is the constant of the proportionality

Iſa 23 pound mass suspended on a spring scale stretches the spring 7 inches

So, when f = 23 pounds, d = 7 inches

so,

23 = c * 7

c = 23/7

So,

f = (23/7) * d

if f = 36

So,

36 = (23/7) * d

d = 7*36/23 = 10.957

rounding to one decimal place

so, d = 11 pounds