Question

Can the same spring have two different Spring Constants depending on the experiment?

I'm attempting to make sense of my data. In one situataion, the spring has the mass attached at the end. I plot my data and the slope(spring constant) says 0.0773 N/m

The same spring, in a different situation, is oscillating up and down with the same masses applied to the end. This time the spring constant K is 18 N/m.

Is this even possible? The differense is enormous.

18 N/m is indicating the spring is stiff, which it is is. However, I don't know how to make sense of the stiff spring having a spring constant of 0.0773 in the first situation; the value is just too low. Is this low value normal for a stiff spring?

Answer 1