An engineering technician carried out a calibration test on an actuator tension spring to determine its mechanical properties.
The diagram below shows the position of the spring's pointer relative to a vertical measurement scale before and after a payload was suspended from it.
What is the extension of the spring?
- 5.3 cm5.3\text{ cm}5.3 cm
- 11.5 cm11.5\text{ cm}11.5 cm
- 16.8 cm16.8\text{ cm}16.8 cm
Give one safety precaution the technician should take during this test procedure to minimise the risk of injury.
The technician suspended an auxiliary calibration weight of mass 0.450 kg0.450\text{ kg}0.450 kg from the spring. Using a gravitational field strength of 9.8 N/kg9.8\text{ N/kg}9.8 N/kg, calculate the weight of this auxiliary mass.
Use the equation: weight=mass×gravitational field strength\text{weight} = \text{mass} \times \text{gravitational field strength}weight=mass×gravitational field strength
Which of the following descriptions best represents the graph of the relationship between force applied and extension for a spring behaving elastically?
- A straight line starting from the origin (both extension and force starting at zero and increasing proportionally)
- A straight line starting above the origin on the vertical axis
- A horizontal line showing a constant extension
A different spring assembly within an industrial pressure valve was subjected to a tensile force of 18.0 N18.0\text{ N}18.0 N. The resulting extension of this second spring was 0.075 m0.075\text{ m}0.075 m.
Calculate the spring constant (stiffness) of this spring.
Use the equation: spring constant=forceextension\text{spring constant} = \frac{\text{force}}{\text{extension}}spring constant=extensionforce
Forces and their interactions Questions
Practise AQA GCSE Physics Forces and their interactions with exam-style questions for Foundation and Higher tier. 13 questions covering Scalar and vector quantities, Contact and non-contact forces, Gravity, and Resultant forces, matched to the AQA GCSE Physics (8463) specification and written in Paper 1 and Paper 2 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.