Hooke's-law question?

Question

The force required to stretch a Hooke's-law spring varies from
0 N to 56.6 N as the spring is stretched by moving one end
17.3 cm from an unstressed position.

Find the force constant of the spring. answer in N/m

Find the work done in stretching the spring. answer in J

Answer 1

The force constant, k, is just F/x for any given position. You've been given the force, F, at the max elongation, x. Just divide 56.6 J by 1.73 m, which is the elongation you were originally given in cm.

To find the work, just calculation the potential energy now present in the spring, which is 0.5*k*x^2. You once again use the elongation you were given, along with the spring constant k you just calculated.