Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store
seo-qna
SearchIcon
banner

What is the spring constant in parallel connection and series connection?

Answer
VerifiedVerified
423.9k+ views
like imagedislike image
Hint: Two massless springs that follow Hooke's Law are said to be connected in parallel when they are connected by a thin, vertical rod, as shown in the diagram below. The formula for capacitors connected in parallel in an electrical circuit can be used to find the value of k.

Complete answer:
For parallel:
seo images

Two massless springs that follow Hooke's Law are said to be connected in parallel when they are connected by a thin, vertical rod.
 k1 and k2 are the spring constants for springs 1 and 2. The rod is subjected to a constant force F, which keeps it perpendicular to the force's direction. In order for the springs to be the same length. The springs could also be compressed if the force was reversed.
A single Hookean spring of spring constant k is equivalent to this system of two parallel springs. The formula for parallel capacitors in an electrical circuit can be used to calculate the value of k.
k=k1+k2
For Series
seo images

Here the equivalent spring constant would be,
k=k1k2k1+k2
When the same springs are connected in series, as shown in the diagram below, this is referred to as a series connection. On spring 2, a constant force F is applied. As a result, the springs are elongated, and the total extension of the combination equals the sum of each spring's elongation. Alternatively, the springs could be compressed by reversing the force direction.
A single spring of spring constant k is equivalent to this system of two springs in series. The formula for capacitors connected in series in an electrical circuit can be used to calculate the value of k.

Note: When two or more springs are connected end-to-end or point-to-point in mechanics, they are said to be in series, and when they are connected side-by-side, they are said to be in parallel; in both cases, they act as a single spring.