Hooke's law is a law of physics that states that the force (F) needed to extend or compress a spring by some distance x scales linearly with respect to that distance. That is: F s = k x {\displaystyle F_{s}=kx} , where k is a constant factor characteristic of the spring: its stiffness, and x is small compared to the total possible deformation of the spring. The law is named after 17th-century British physicist Robert Hooke. He first stated the law in 1676 as a Latin anagram. He...