Force Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Spring === {{main|Elasticity (physics)|Hooke's law}} [[File:Mass-spring-system.png|upright|thumb|''F<sub>k</sub>'' is the force that responds to the load on the spring]] A simple elastic force acts to return a [[Spring (device)|spring]] to its natural length. An [[ideal spring]] is taken to be massless, frictionless, unbreakable, and infinitely stretchable. Such springs exert forces that push when contracted, or pull when extended, in proportion to the [[displacement field (mechanics)|displacement]] of the spring from its equilibrium position.<ref>{{cite web |last=Nave |first=Carl Rod |title=Elasticity |work=HyperPhysics |publisher=University of Guelph |url=http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/permot2.html |access-date=2013-10-28}}</ref> This linear relationship was described by [[Robert Hooke]] in 1676, for whom [[Hooke's law]] is named. If <math>\Delta x</math> is the displacement, the force exerted by an ideal spring equals: <math display="block" qid=Q170282>\vec{F}=-k \Delta \vec{x},</math> where <math>k</math> is the spring constant (or force constant), which is particular to the spring. The minus sign accounts for the tendency of the force to act in opposition to the applied load.<ref name=FeynmanVol1 />{{rp|at=ch.12}}<ref name=Kleppner /> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page