Understanding Hooke's Law

Hooke's Law describes the relationship between the force applied to a spring and the resulting displacement:

* F = -kx

Where:

* F is the force applied (in Newtons, N)

* k is the spring constant (in Newtons per meter, N/m)

* x is the displacement or stretch (in meters, m)

Solving for the Spring Constant (k)

1. Rearrange the equation: k = -F / x

2. Plug in the values: k = -60 N / 1.5 m

3. Calculate: k = -40 N/m

Important Note: The negative sign in the equation indicates that the force exerted by the spring is opposite to the direction of the displacement. However, when calculating the spring constant, we typically use the absolute value, so the spring constant is 40 N/m.

Therefore, the spring constant is 40 N/m.