Textbook Problem

You are part of a team working in a machine parts mechanic’s shop. An important customer has asked your company to provide springs with a very precise force constant k. To measure the spring constant, you fasten two of the springs between the ends of two very long wires of length L, separated by the unstretched length ℓ of the springs as shown in Figure P29.15. The specific attachment method that you use insulates the springs from the wires so that no current passes through the springs. You lay the apparatus flat on a table and then pass a current of magnitude I through the wires, in opposite directions. As a result the springs stretch by a distance d and come to equilibrium. You determine an expression for the spring constant in terms of L, I, ℓ, and d.

Figure P29.15