- #1
Mouadys
- 6
- 0
Hello,
Following Hooke's law, the force applied by a string on an object attached to one of its ends is F = -kx
But here is my question : if we consider the equilibrium coordinate x=0 of a horizontal string, and the string is stretched until its end reaches a coordinate x1>0. By applying hooke's law we find F = -k*x1 but since x1>0 so that means F<0, but as I know the magnitude of a force cannot be negative...so am I missing something or should I use |F| for magnitude or what ?
Thank you
Following Hooke's law, the force applied by a string on an object attached to one of its ends is F = -kx
But here is my question : if we consider the equilibrium coordinate x=0 of a horizontal string, and the string is stretched until its end reaches a coordinate x1>0. By applying hooke's law we find F = -k*x1 but since x1>0 so that means F<0, but as I know the magnitude of a force cannot be negative...so am I missing something or should I use |F| for magnitude or what ?
Thank you