Hooke’s Law and Simple Harmonic Motion for Elastic Materials—Inquiry Lab Kit for AP® Physics 1

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AP Physics 1, Big Idea 3, Investigation 9

Bungee-jumping is thrilling but safe due to elastic materials that stretch far enough to scare the jumper without causing harm. The stretchiness of a bungee cord can be described using a spring constant. In this lab, students will determine the stretchiness, or spring constants, for a rubber band and spring.

The lab begins with an introductory activity in which students cause elastic materials to exhibit simple harmonic motion so they can measure spring constants by monitoring oscillating frequencies. Students use these results in the guided-inquiry activity to design a procedure to evaluate whether the materials obey Hooke’s Law. Students hang masses of increasing weights from the rubber band and spring, measure the resulting stretch distances, and use graphs to prove which material more closely obeys Hooke’s Law. As an additional activity, students may attempt to replicate a safe yet thrilling bungee jump by constructing a bungee cord of materials with appropriate spring constants to prevent an egg from crashing into the ground.

Complete for 24 students working in pairs. All materials are reusable.