A mass on a spring is a simple and inexpensive device that can be used to demonstrate many important physics concepts. Almost all standard introductory physics lab manuals include at least one or two experiments with a spring.1,2 Most of these experiments explore Hooke's law and simple harmonic motion. We would like to suggest another simple “spring-based” experiment that we performed for the past two years in an introductory physics lab at Barry University.

Topics
Hooke's law, Educational aids, Buoyancy
1.
P.G. Hewitt and P. Robinson, Laboratory Manual: Conceptual Physics, 9th ed. (Benjamin-Cummings Publishing, San Francisco, 2001).
2.
David Loyd, Physics Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed. (Harcourt, Orlando, 1998).
3.
J.S. Walker, Physics, 2nd ed. (Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2003).
4.
J.D. Cutnell and K.W. Johnson, Physics, 6th ed. (Wiley, New York, 2004).
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© 2005 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2005
American Association of Physics Teachers
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