🔍 Key Concepts

• Hooke’s Law and how force relates to spring compression • Purpose of a valve spring in a diesel engine valve train • Difference between operating conditions (like speed, vibration) and basic spring characteristics

💭 Think About

• Ask yourself: in basic mechanics, what variable does a spring’s closing force directly depend on? • Which of the options describes an inherent, instantaneous mechanical relationship, rather than a secondary effect or operating condition? • Consider which answer would still be true even if the engine were stopped and the spring were simply compressed on a workbench.

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify which option describes a direct proportional relationship in elementary physics of springs. • Eliminate choices that are operating consequences (things that happen during running) rather than the fundamental cause of spring force. • Check which term is defined in basic mechanics as being linearly related to the force needed to compress or extend a spring.