Which statement best describes Hooke's Law?

• A. The force exerted by a spring is independent of displacement.
• B. The force exerted by a spring is proportional to displacement and directed opposite to displacement.
• C. The force is proportional to velocity.
• D. The force is proportional to acceleration.

Answer: (B)

Hooke's law describes the restoring force of an ideal spring: it is proportional to how far you stretch or compress the spring and it acts in the opposite direction to that displacement. In math terms, F = -k x, where k is the spring constant and x is the displacement from equilibrium. The minus sign shows the force pulls back toward the equilibrium position, and the magnitude grows linearly with displacement in the spring’s linear range. This isn’t about velocity or acceleration—those relate to motion and inertia—so forces that depend on speed or acceleration describe different situations.