Question

Tendons are strong elastic fibers that attach muscles to bones. to a reasonable approximation, they obey hooke's law. in laboratory tests on a particular tendon, it was found that, when a 252 g object was hung from it, the tendon stretched 1.20 cm. find the force constant of this tendon in n/m .

a) Archimedes' Principle
b) Hooke's Law
c) Newton's Third Law
d) Boyle's Law

Answer 1

The force constant of the tendon is found using Hooke's Law by calculating the force due to the mass hanging from the tendon and dividing it by the amount of stretch. The force constant is 205.833 N/m.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question is related to Hooke's Law, which states that the deformation of an elastic object is proportional to the applied force, as long as the object's elastic limit is not exceeded. To determine the force constant (k) of the tendon in question, we apply Hooke's Law, which is given by F = kx, where F is the force applied to the object, k is the force constant, and x is the displacement (stretch) of the object. The mass of 252 g (0.252 kg) hanging from the tendon creates a gravitational force F = mg, where m is the mass and g is the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s2). The stretch x is given as 1.20 cm (0.012 m). Therefore, the force constant k can be calculated by rearranging the equation to k = F/x.

First, we calculate the force: F = 0.252 kg × 9.8 m/s2 = 2.470 N. Next, we find the force constant: k = 2.470 N / 0.012 m = 205.833 N/m.