Rubber Band Force Equation

W elastic potential energy in joules.

Rubber band force equation.

Displacement 14 12 10 8 f newtons 2 0 0 00 0 02 0 04 0 06 0 08 0 10 0 12 0 14 x meters curve fitting provides the following force vs displacement equation f x 33 55 x 0 4871 where x is in mand f is in n. A rubber band is a single molecule as is a latex glove. In this case the linear function fitting the straight part of the data gives a spring constant of 17 38 n m. Individual 4 carbon backbone units are forced into rotational conformations that have longer end to end distances and this restricts the number of conformations states that are thermally accessible.

If you released a rubber band with properties like that it would just stay in the outstretched position until you force into another state. Elastic potential energy force x distance of displacement. Rubber band force vs. The following figure shows the experimentally obtained measured force vs displacement for a rubber band.

Say i have a rubber band wrapped around 2 pegs at a certain distance and at that distance i know the pounds of force per inch it is pulling at. For example if the pegs are placed such that the band is stretched to 52 inches the force the bands apply to the pegs are 57 6 lbs per inch. Elastic potential energy is the stored energy of a compressible or stretchable object like a spring or rubber band or molecule. Without this property the rubber band would have no reason to tend towards a tangled state since the entropy would be about the same in both states.

F force in newtons.