How does Hooke's law explain the behavior of elastic materials?

Question

please answer

Answer 1

Hooke's law says that if an elastic material is not stretched too much then the amount of stretch is proportional to the amount of force needed to stretch it.  You can experience Hooke's law by stretching a rubber band.

 

In terms of an equation, F = -kx where F is the force, x is the length of stretch, and k is the spring constant of the material.  Different materials will have different degrees of "stretchability" and k is its measure of stretchability.

 

The negative sign just means that the reaction force to the stretch is opposite to the applied force need to stretch it.