Question

If there is a negative sign in front of the Hooke's Law equation, what does the force, F, represent?

Answer 1

Answer:

C) The restoring force

Explanation:

Hooke's Law states that the restoring force acting on a spring is given by the equation:

$F=-kx$

where

k is the spring constant

x is the displacement of the spring from its equilibrium position

The negative sign in the equation tells the direction of the restoring force. In fact, this force tends to bring the spring back to its equilibrium position: so, the force is always in opposite direction to the displacement.

This means that when the spring is stretched to the right, the restoring force tends to bring it back to the left, to the equibrium position; if the spring is compressed to the left, the restoring force tends to bring it back to the right, to the equilibrium position.

So the correct option is

C) The restoring force