Hookes Law Analysis - Lab Report Example

Procedure:
- Taped the paper clip to the desktop.
- Stretched the rubber band to its maximum length while holding it for 5 seconds.
- Looped the first rubber band on the paper clip hook and spring force scale.
- Took measurement at the paper clip (P0) and at where the rubber band reaches L0.
- Pulled the scale to measure various forces, as shown in the results, and recorded the lengths.
- Repeated the same procedure for rubber bands 2-5.

The tables, Table 1a,1b,1c, and 1d gave way to constructing a table for change in length as a result of applied force for the 5 rubber bands. Tables 2A, 2b, 2c, and 2d show that as the forces are increased so does the length of stretch increase. 12N force when applied causes more stretch than the rest of the force, for all the trials. The averages for the change in length caused by the forces were also calculated as shown in Table 3: Averages. These averages in length change were used to build the Plotting table, Table 4, as a basis for producing a graph for the relationship. Graph 1 shows that all five rubbers did not exhibit a straight line when the change in length was plotted against force. Graph 2 shows that the relationship between the average change in lengths and force does not produce a straight line. This is indicative of the presence of outliers in the graph as shown by the dark straight line.

The results indicate that despite increased changes in length as force is increased, rubber does not fully respect Hooke’s Law. The presence of outliers in the graph indicates that the rubber band does not respect the concept of Hooke’s law, “a graph of force against extension produces a straight line that passes through the origin” (Wilson & Hall, 2009). The inconsistency witnessed results from the nature of rubber’s elasticity, which makes it stress-dependent and easily affected by temperature. Intuitively, any slight temperature change might have interfered with the measurement. This implies that the rubber band does not follow Hooke’s law because of the inconsistency in the change in lengths.