Question

If there is a negative sign in front of the Hooke's Law equation, what does the force, F, represent?

Answer 1

Hooke's law, given by
`F=-kx` is denoted with a negative sign to regard that the direction of restoring force that occurs opposite in direction of the force that caused the displacement
`x`. F represents the force required to create a spring displacement of
`x`.

Step-by-step explanation:

As with many things in physics, the negative sign represents direction. In this case, after a spring is displaced a distance of
`x` from equilibrium, the restoring force created by the spring will be in opposite direction of the force applied to move the spring there, represented by F.