Is the spring "constant" still constant if the spring is circular?

Asked Jun 15 '19 at 21:13

Active Jun 16 '19 at 08:54

Viewed 75 times

Imagine a spring with a spring "constant" $k$ which is put on a part of a circular form, say a disc (a slice of a cylinder) with a groove around it to put the spring on. If we stretch the spring it doesn't slip off the disc and friction can be ignored.

What happens to the string constant? Will it get bigger (which is what I think), smaller, stay the same, or isn't it constant anymore?

edited Jun 16 '19 at 08:54

asked Jun 15 '19 at 21:13

Deschele Schilder

Why do you think it would be different than a spring of same length as the circumference? – Aditya Garg Jun 15 '19 at 21:38
I don't say it will be different, but I'm asking if it will be different. When you stretch a spring on a circular form it's not stretched in the same way as a linear string is stretched. – Deschele Schilder Jun 15 '19 at 22:04
What do you mean by circular form? – JMac Jun 15 '19 at 22:18
That the spring is wrapped, in part (in its "ground" state), around a circular disk, in a way that the spring doesn't slip off the disk when it's stretched. – Deschele Schilder Jun 15 '19 at 22:34
I can't think of a way to set this up where ignoring friction is a reasonable assumption, but I did want to point out that the spring constant has always been an idealization. Real springs have a spring constant that varies (oof... okay, I need new wording for that) – Cort Ammon Jun 15 '19 at 22:35
But just for the sake of the argument, let's assume the spring "constant" is really constant when it's linearly stretched and we can let the friction in this setup disappear by some magical lubricant. – Deschele Schilder Jun 15 '19 at 22:41
@AdityaGarg-Why the downvote? Isn't this a question which can be answered? Or don't you understand it? – Deschele Schilder Jun 15 '19 at 23:30
@descheleschilder didn't downvote – Aditya Garg Jun 16 '19 at 06:47
Oops! I'm sorry! My fault... – Deschele Schilder Jun 16 '19 at 08:16

Is the spring "constant" still constant if the spring is circular?

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