Question

A company selling a type of spring makes the following claim: “The elastic potential energy that the spring is capable of storing for a given compression distance does not decrease, even after the spring compresses and/or stretches hundreds of times.” The students in a physics class have decided to test the company’s claim.
i. State a basic physics principle or law the students could use in designing an experiment to test the company’s claim

Answer 1

Answer:

Hooke's law. Hooke's law states that: provided the elastic limit of an elastic material is not exceeded, the extension, e, of the material is proportional to the force applied.

Explanation:

The appropriate law that explains the potential energy conserved by a compressed spring is the Hooke's law. Hooke's law states that: provided the elastic limit of an elastic material is not exceeded, the extension, e, of the material is proportional to the force applied.

Mathematically, Hooke's law states that:

                          F = ke

where: F is the force applied, k is the spring constant and e is the extension of the spring.

When a spring is compressed, its potential energy is the same as the work done by the spring.

Potential energy = work done = $\frac{1}{2}$ k$e^{2}$

So the law that can be used to test the company's claim is the Hooke's law.