Choo, Brian

Period 3 Due Date: September 28 Date of lab started: Sept 22

Chapter 2 Density Lab

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Choo, Brian
Period 3 Due Date: September 28 Date of lab started: Sept 22

Introduction
The purpose of this lab is to find the density of different given materials and compare it to waters density to see if it sinks or floats in water. Density is a physical property of water that can be defined in a qualitative manner as the measure of the relative heaviness of objects with a constant volume. One can find the density of an object by dividing the mass of the object by its volume. The mass of something can be defined as the properties of matter. The volume of an object is how much 3dimensional space it can contain. The density of water at room temperature (20C) is .9882071 g/cm. To find the volume of irregularly shaped objects, put the object in the water and see the volume it displaces. To do this, subtract the new volume with the object in it by the original volume of the water. To find the density of regular shaped objects, multiply all of its length, height and width. Two objects can have the same density because the objects can have the same dimensions and can consist of the same material. The hypothesis is that if the object feels heavy, then it has a higher density than water and will sink in water.

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Choo, Brian
Period 3 Due Date: September 28 Date of lab started: Sept 22

Data Chart
Object Water Mass (g) 16.906 Calc. Volume --Volume 17.50 mL 2.45 mL Calc. Density 16.906/17.50 Density Observed .9661 g/mL Density True Value 1.00 g/mL % Error 3.39% Float or Sink? It is water sink

Rock

5.894

19.95-17.50

5.894/2.45

2.41 g/mL

1.65 - 2.69 g/mL

0%

Rubber Stopper Styrofoam

4.288

57.25-54.00

3.250 mL 3.800 mL 17 cm

4.288/3.250

1.319 g/mL

1.19 g/mL

10.8%

sink

0.297

96.60-92.80

0.297/3.800

0.07815 g/mL

0.10 g/mL

22%

float

Glass Slide Marble

32.512

.30x7.51x7.59

32.512/17

1.9 g/cm

2.57 g/mL

26%

sink

5.605

59.00-57.00

2.000 mL .3000 mL 1.300 mL 217 cm .4000 mL

5.605/2.000

2.803 g/mL

2.57 g/mL

8.31%

sink

Aluminum Brass Key

0.767 12.923

59.30-59.00 61.10-59.80

0.767/.3000 12.923/1.300

2.56 g/mL 9.941 g/mL

2.70 g/mL 8.4 g/mL

5.2% 16%

sink sink

Pine Wood Copper Penny

170.788 3.80x7.51x7.59

170.788/217

0.787 g/cm

0.53 g/mL

33%

float

2.519

30.40-30.00

2.519/.4000

6.298 g/mL

6.94 g/mL (1990)

9.25%

sink

Work of % error shown on back. 3|Page

Choo, Brian
Period 3 Due Date: September 28 Date of lab started: Sept 22

Results
The objects that were less dense than water were the Styrofoam and the pine wood. The Styrofoam had a density of 0.07815 and the pine wood had a density of 0.787. The objects that were denser than water were the following: rock, rubber stopper, glass slide, marble, aluminum, brass key, and the copper penny. The rock had a density of 2.41 g/mL, the rubber stopper: 1.319 g/mL, the glass slide: 1.9g/cm, the marble: 2.803 g/ml, the aluminum: 2.56 g/mL, the brass key: 9.941, and the copper penny: 6.298. If an object is denser than water, then the object will sink. For example, the brass key had a density of 8.4 g/mL so it sank in water whose density was 1.00 g/mL. The densities of the glass slide, marble, and rock are similar because they consist of similar materials inside the object. On the other hand, if the object is less dense than water, it will float. If an object feels or looks heavy, then the chances are that object has a high density. Other than that, you cant determine the density just from the texture. The percent error can relate to a misuse of the given tools or the using the wrong tools.

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Choo, Brian
Period 3 Due Date: September 28 Date of lab started: Sept 22

Conclusion
The purpose of this lab is to find the density of different given materials and compare it to waters density to see if it sinks or floats in water. The hypothesis was that if the object feels heavy, then it has a higher density than water and will sink in water. The hypothesis was correct in saying that if the density is higher than the density of water, then it will float. The part in the hypothesis about the objects feeling heavy is an opinion for every other person for other people might consider something heavy while others dont. The hypothesis was true because the density we calculated for the objects that had a higher density than water sank. This hypothesis can be decided by thinking of how and why certain objects sink or float in water. Because of this scientific fact, people now know that there is something called density in the world of science that can be used to determine if an object can float in water or not. Some errors in this lab were the high percentages on certain objects. This can be the cause of misuse of equipment or the cause of wrong information.

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