Hooke’s law

Abstract

An elastic material has a special property where if an external force deforms it, then it exert a restoring force which tries to restore the material back to the original state. The common elastic material is a simple coil spring. The restoring force exerted by the spring is directed along the length of the spring and is proportional to how much the spring is stretched or compressed. The direction of this restoring force depends on if the spring is stretched or compressed. If one end of the spring is fixed and the free end is moved so the spring either stretches or compresses, the restoring force points in the opposite direction the free end was displaced. This relationship can be described by the spring equation, also known as Hooke’s Law.