Is Hooke's law Always Obeyed?

Most recent answer: 10/13/2014

Q:
a typical screen door spring is tension stressed in its normal state that is adjacent turns cling to each other and resists separation does such a spring obeys hooke's law?
- imtiaz (age 18)
nowshera,kpk,pakistan
A:

Nice question.

I bet that Hooke's law isn't quite obeyed in that case. If the coils are actually in contact before any tension is applied, it wouldn't be surprising if the tension had to rise above some threshold before the spring started to stretch out. 

Why not try it with some weights, and let us know the result!

Mike W.


(published on 10/13/2014)