Hooke's Law

Physical Law

Hooke's Law applies to an ideal spring:

$\mathbf F = -k \mathbf x$

where:

$\mathbf F$ is the force caused by a displacement $\mathbf x$

$k$ is the spring force constant.

The negative sign indicates that the force pulls in the opposite direction to that of the displacement imposed.

The strain is proportional to the stress.

Also see

• Dimension of Spring Force Constant: the dimension of $k$ is $\mathsf {M T}^{-2}$.

Sources

• 1966: Isaac Asimov: Understanding Physics ... (previous) ... (next): $\text {I}$: Motion, Sound and Heat: Chapter $4$: Gravitation: The Gravitational Constant
• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Hooke's law
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Hooke's law
• 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Hooke's law
• 2021: Richard Earl and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (6th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Hooke's law