Hooke's law

American  

noun

Physics.

1. the law stating that the stress on a solid substance is directly proportional to the strain produced, provided the stress is less than the elastic limit of the substance.

---

Hooke's law British  

/ hʊks /

noun

1. the principle that the stress imposed on a solid is directly proportional to the strain produced, within the elastic limit

---

Hooke's law Scientific  

/ hks /

1. A law stating that the stress applied to a material is proportional to the strain on that material. For example, if a stress on a metal bar of ten newtons per square centimeter causes it to be compressed by four millimeters, then a stress of 20 newtons per square centimeter will cause the bar to be compressed by eight millimeters. Hooke's law generally holds only up to the elastic limit of stress for that material.

2. See also modulus of elasticity

---

Etymology

Origin of Hooke's law

1850–55; named after R. Hooke who formulated it