Stiffness of two parallel springs

If two springs are side-to-side to one another, i.e. connected in parallel, the total stiffness of the system of springs is equal to the sum of the stiffnesses of each spring.

Condition:

1. Springs must be Hookean, or linear-response, i.e. obey the Hooke’s law.

Links:

1. Wikipedia.

total_stiffness

Total stiffness.

Symbol:

k

Latex:

\(k\)

Dimension:

force/length

first_stiffness

stiffness of the first spring.

Symbol:

k_1

Latex:

\(k_{1}\)

Dimension:

force/length

second_stiffness

stiffness of the second spring.

Symbol:

k_2

Latex:

\(k_{2}\)

Dimension:

force/length

law

k = k_1 + k_2

Latex:

\[k = k_{1} + k_{2}\]