The force constant, also known as the spring constant, is a measure of the stiffness of a spring or the restoring force per unit displacement. The unit for the force constant is Newton per meter (N/m).
To explain further, the force constant measures how much force is needed to stretch or compress a spring by a certain distance. For instance, if a spring has a force constant of 300 N/m, it means that a force of 300 Newtons is required to stretch the spring by one meter. This relationship is described by Hooke’s Law, which states that the force exerted by a spring is directly proportional to the displacement from its equilibrium position. The mathematical representation of Hooke’s Law is F = -kx, where F is the force exerted by the spring, k is the force constant, and x is the displacement.