Answer:
Compression/stretching of the spring
Explanation:
Hook's law gives the relationship between the restoring force on a spring and its compression/stretching:
[tex]F=-k\Delta x[/tex]
where
F is the restoring force on the spring
k is the spring constant, which gives a measure of the stiffness of the spring
[tex]\Delta x[/tex] is the difference between the spring's position and the spring's equlibrium position, so it gives a measure of the compression or the stretching of the spring, measured relative to its equilibrium position
The negative sign in the formula simply means that is a restoring force, so if [tex]\Delta x[/tex] is positive (stretching) the force goes in the negative direction (towards the equilibrium position), while if [tex]\Delta x[/tex] is negative (compression), the force goes towards positive direction (towards the equilibrium position).
