Skip to content
ENExplore Calculators

Spring Energy Calculator

Work out spring energy, force and the stiffness needed for a target energy store.

About Spring Energy Calculator

Because energy depends on both stiffness and deflection squared, the same energy can be stored by a stiff spring moving a little or a soft spring moving a lot. Solving both ways shows the design trade-off directly. Choosing spring rate against available travel is the central compromise in suspension and actuator design.

Formula

Spring Energy

E = ½ k x²; rearranged, x = √(2E ÷ k) and k = 2E ÷ x²

k
Spring rate
x
Deflection under load

Worked example

With the default values below, Spring Energy Calculator returns Energy Stored of 1.6000. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Spring constantminimum 0 N/m
500 N/m
Compression distanceminimum 0 m
0.08 m
Target energy to storeminimum 0 J
5 J

Results

Energy Stored
1.6000 J
Force at Full Compression
40.000 N
Compression Needed for the Target Energy
0.1414 m
Stiffness Needed at This Compression
1,562.50 N/m
Work Done Compressing It
1.6000 J

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Spring Energy
  3. 3Energy Stored= 1.6000 J
  4. 4Force at Full Compression= 40.000 N
  5. 5Compression Needed for the Target Energy= 0.1414 m
  6. 6Stiffness Needed at This Compression= 1,562.50 N/m
  7. 7Work Done Compressing It= 1.6000 J

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 4 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Spring Energy calculated?

E = ½ k x²; rearranged, x = √(2E ÷ k) and k = 2E ÷ x² Because energy depends on both stiffness and deflection squared, the same energy can be stored by a stiff spring moving a little or a soft spring moving a lot. Solving both ways shows the design trade-off directly.

Why does Spring Energy matter?

Choosing spring rate against available travel is the central compromise in suspension and actuator design.

What values do I need to enter?

This calculator takes 3 inputs: Spring constant, Compression distance, Target energy to store. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.

Related Calculators

Spring Energy Calculator – Calculate Energy Stored