What is the relationship between spring constant and stiffness?

[critter]

What does the spring constant mean for the overall "stiffness" of a spring? Does a larger spring constant mean the spring would be more difficult to compress or stretch? I know that Hooke's law states that F=-kx, and that the units of k are in N/m, I just want to know what the spring constant means.

 

[Doc Al]

Does a larger spring constant mean the spring would be more difficult to compress or stretch?

Yes. Hooke's law tells you that one spring with twice the spring constant of another will take twice the force to get the same amount of stretch.