Chem 150L KEY Fall 2020

Exp. 1: Density Measurements: Worksheet

Name (Print) ______________________________________________________________

Date _____________________________ Lab Group _______

A. Measuring the Density of a Solid

In this first part of this lab, you will be learning how to measure the density of a few solid objects
(cubes, cylinders). In all cases, you will be measuring the mass of the object using a balance. However,
you will be comparing two different methods of determining the volume of the object in question. The
first method will be through measuring the dimensions of the object, and then calculating the volume of
the object. With the second method, you will be determining the volume of the object through
displacement of water.
Before we start looking at any data, let’s take a look at the two different methods of determining the
volume. Watch two videos on how to measure volume by direct measurement and by water volume
displacement. Use the space below to record your notes on how the measurements are done.
Direct measurements are made with a ruler to measure dimensions and then the volume is calculated
from those dimensions.
Water volume displacement measures volume by recording the initial volume of water in a graduated
cylinder, placing the object in the cylinder and then recording the final volume. The difference
between the volumes is the volume of the object.

Now that you’ve watched both of the videos, discuss with others in your group the following two
questions. A note: We are not looking for a correct answer, per se. What we are looking for is an answer
with a reasonable justification. You may also find that you think the same method answers both of these
questions. That is also fine!
1) Which of the two methods appears to be easier to use? Another way of thinking about it, which
method is less likely to have human mistakes made?
Volume displacement is easier to use.

2) Which of the two methods looks like it will give a more precise answer?
Volume displacement will give a more precise answer.

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Now, you were given some dimensional data for two cubes and two cylinders. Complete the table
below, including the final column with the density (reported to a correct number of significant figures!).
Table 1. Density of solid cubes and cylinders, where volume is determined by the dimensions of the
object.

Cube material Mass (g) Dimensions (cm) Volume (cm3 = mL) Density (g/mL)
L: 2.50 (g/mL)
Copper 145.6081 W: 2.45 15.6 9.33
H: 2.55
L: 2.54
PVC 23.1736 W: 2.54 16.4 1.41
H: 2.54
Cylinder material Mass (g) Dimensions (cm) Volume (cm3 = mL) Density (g/mL)

H: 5.10
Zinc 53.3749 6.26 8.53
D: 1.25
H: 14.70
Aluminum 49.9172 18.0 2.77
D: 1.25

You may be tempted to do all of the work yourself, or do all of the work as a group. What we
recommend is that you divide and conquer: have half of the group calculate the density for one cube and
one cylinder, and have the other half of the group calculate the density for a second cube and cylinder.
Then, you should explain your work to one another and compare workflows. One of the best ways to
truly understand a concept is to explain it to someone else (the other best way is practice, practice,
practice!).
Next, you will use the displacement data to calculate the densities of the same cylinders that you
analyzed above. As before, make sure that you report your density to the correct number of significant
figures. You can approach it however you like, but we recommend again that you divide and conquer
(chemistry, like most sciences, is a collaborative field!). Remember – addition and subtraction follow
different rules for sig figs!

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Table 2. Density of solid cylinders, where volume is measured by displacement of water

Cylinder Volume reading of

Mass (g) Volume of object (mL) Density (g/mL)
material grad. cylinder (mL)

Initial: 10.49
Zinc 53.3749 7.50 7.12
Final: 17.99
Initial: 67.43
Aluminum 34.4890 12.68 2.72
Final: 80.15

We’re almost done with this section. What we need to do next is research what the actual densities
of these objects are, and see whether one of the two methods was more accurate than the other. We’ll
also see if there is a noticeable difference in the precision of one method versus another.
One of the most reliable methods of finding scientific information such as densities is through
searching a scientific reference, such as the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, or a chemistry
textbook. Following that, though, is a simple Google search. However, Google has a lot of information,
which may not be 100% reliable or useful. To combat this, there are two things that you can do:
1) Find the information on more than one website. If the values are similar to one another,
great! If they are different, it is probably a good idea to check a third source to confirm. If
you remember, this is the same reason we gave in the prelab reading to do measurements in
at least triplicate when feasible.
2) If you just Google “Density of chocolate” you will get 1325 kg/m3. While this density uses
proper SI units, it is not a good value to compare our densities to. If you know the specific
units (or specific temperature, as we’ll see later), include that in the search to get an
immediately usable value. Or, you can convert this density to g/cm3.
Table 3. True densities of various solid materials as researched online.

Cube 1 Cube 2 Cylinder 1 Cylinder 2

Material Copper PVC Zinc Aluminum

True Density
8.96 1.38 7.14 2.70
(g/mL)

Source Wikipedia Wikipedia Wikipedia Wikipedia

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Now, let’s finish this section by comparing our experimental densities to our true densities.
Hopefully, they should all be reasonable close to the true density. If they aren’t, work with your group to
double-check your calculations.
1) Did one method appear to be more accurate than the other? By this, we mean the experimentally
determined density is closer to the true density of the object.
Yes. The more accurate volume, and therefore density, is by vol. displacement, not direct measurement.

2) Did one method appear to be more precise than the other? Something with high precision has
low variance measurement to measurement. Given that we only took one measurement for each
cube, we will instead be using significant figures as a proxy.
Again, vol. displacement gave more precise (and accurate) values than did direct measurement.

B. Measuring the Density of a Liquid

Next, we’re going to be measuring the density of a liquid. With liquids, the workflow is reversed a
bit – rather than measuring the mass of the object first, and then determining its volume, we instead
deliver a known volume of the liquid to a dry, empty container, and then measure the mass of the liquid.
With the mass of the empty container, as well as the mass of the container with liquid, you can
determine the mass of the liquid, and then calculate the density with your mass and volume.
Watch the which video demonstrates how to measure the density of a liquid using a graduated
cylinder, as well as a volumetric pipette. For each example, you’ll see the measurement done for both a
small volume (2 mL) as well as a large volume (20 mL). You will be given the first three columns of
data for confirming the density of water. Use this data to calculate the density and fill out the table
below:
Table 4. Density of water at 20oC, by four methods

Mass, empty Volume Mass, filled Mass of liquid Density of

Method
container (g) delivered (mL) container (g) delivered (g) water (g/mL)
2 mL by
17.9210 2.00 19.9962 2.0752 1.0376
graduated cylinder
25 mL by
86.2904 25.00 111.1658 24.8754 0.9950
graduated cylinder
2 mL by
32.2479 2.00 34.2607 2.0128 1.0064
volumetric pipette
25 mL by
32.5403 25.00 57.4831 24.9428 0.9977
volumetric pipette

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In order to determine which method is giving the most reliable result, you will need a comparison
point. Similarly, as with part A, you can determine what the density of water is. Report your density in
g/mL (with source!) below. Remember, you want to report a density that is consistent with your desired
units, as well as lab conditions
The density of water is 0.9998396 g/mL at 0C (liquid), 0.9970474 at 25C, both from Wikipedia.
Lab temperature was 20 - 22C, so the 25 mL vol. pipette gave the most accurate value.

Now, with this and other information, explain which of your four methods is most accurate, and
which method is most precise. Why did you select the methods that you did?
Volumetric pipettes deliver more accurate volumes than do graduated cylinders. The most accurate
method is to use the larger vol. pipette since the margin of error decreases as the volume of the pipette
increases.

We can repeat this process with another liquid, such as ethanol. We’ll focus on just one volume for
this: 10.00 mL of ethanol delivered by volumetric pipette.
Table 5. Determining the density of ethanol at 20oC (density of ethanol = 0.789 g/mL at 20C)

Volume Mass of Density of

Mass, empty Mass, filled
Method delivered liquid ethanol
container (g) container (g)
(mL) delivered (g) (g/mL)

Volumetric
36.0544 10.00 43.9613 7.9069 0.7907
Pipette, 10 mL

Look up the density of ethanol, and compare it to the density that you determined. Hopefully, they
are similar to one another! If not, check your calculations with another member of your group.
Next, we will be combining 10.00 mL of ethanol and 10.00 mL of water together. Ethanol and water
are miscible with one another (miscible meaning that they combine completely in solution to form a
homogeneous mixture). What we will first do is predict what will happen to the mass, volume, and
density of our mixture of ethanol and water. Do you think that any of these properties will be additive
(i.e., the measurement for the mixture (system) will be equal to the sum of the measurements of the two
individual components (subsystems) of the mixture)? Fill out the table below with your thoughts.

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Table 6. Predictions of the physical properties of a water/ethanol mixture.

Water + Ethanol Confidence of prediction

Water Ethanol
(prediction) (low, medium, high)

Volume (mL) 10.00 10.00 20.00 low

(1.00 + 0.789)/2 =
Density (g/mL) 1.000 0.7890 low/med
0.895
9.9785 + 7.890 =
Mass (g) 10.00 7.890 high
17.8685

Now, watch the video that shows the mixture of water and ethanol. From the water/ethanol mixture,
take note of the masses and volumes that are reported. Use these to calculate the density of the mixture.
How did your calculations compare? Based on the measurements and calculations, are any of these
properties (volume, mass, density) additive for a mixture?

From the video the mass of 10.00 mL of water and 10.00 mL of ethanol at lab temp. are 9.9785 g and
7.8628 g, respectively. The combined mass of the two is 17.5997 g, which is 1.5% less from the
predicted mass. The combined volume is 19.50 mL, which is 2.5% less than the predicted volume.
The density is 17.5997 g/19.50 mL = 0.9025 g/mL, which is 0.8% greater than the predicted density.

The last thing we will be doing is determining the density of an unknown liquid. You will receive
data for triplicate measurements, in order to determine an average density.
Table 7. Density of an unknown liquid (unknown liquid is isopropyl alcohol, density = 0.7854 g/mL)

Trial Volume delivered (mL) Mass of container (g) Mass of liquid (g) Density (g/mL)

Initial: 32.6898
1 5.00 3.9952 0.799
Final: 36.6285

Initial: 34.0507
2 5.00 3.8835 0.777
Final: 37.9342

Initial: 33.5862
3 5.00 3.9157 0.783
Final: 37.5019

Average Density 0.786

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C. Measuring the Density of a Penny

In this final part of the lab, we’ll be using the knowledge that you’ve gained in parts A and B in
order to determine the density of a penny. Over the years, the composition of a penny has changed due
to fluctuating costs of metals. However, the penny seems to have always (with an exception during
1943-44) appeared to be made of copper, but have permanently switched to primarily another metal
after a certain year. The penny provides an interesting challenge, due to its small size relative to all of
the other objects that we have been working with so far.
First, watch a video in which the dimensions of a penny are measured. Use the information in the
video to fill out the table below and determine the volume of a penny. Remember, report this to the
correct number of significant figures!
Table 8. Volume of a single penny

Diameter (cm) Thickness (cm) Volume (mL)

1.90 0.13 0.37
Now, think about the following two questions. 1) Which dimension is causing our volume
determination to have so few significant figures? 2) Based on the measurements that we’ve made so far
with displacement, do you think that the volume displaced by a single penny will be easily measurable
using our setup?

The answers that you may have gotten are “thickness” and “maybe?” for these two questions. We
can solve both of these problems by using a stack of pennies (5~10). When doing the stack method, it’s
important to grab pennies from the same year, to guarantee that the density of each penny is (assuming
no counterfeits) the same.
Watch the final video, demonstrates how to take the same types of measurements using a stack of
pennies. Work with the data that is provided to your group to determine the density of the penny from
your assigned year. After calculating the density, you’ll want to compare the density to one of the metals
that was analyzed in part 1. Which metal is your penny most likely made of?
Table 9. Density of a stack of 5 pennies
Year: 2010 Mass of Stack (g) Dimensions (cm) Volume (cm3 = mL) Density (g/mL)

By direct h: 0.700
12.5564 1.98 6.34
measurement
d: 1.90
Graduated
Displaced Volume
Year: 2010 Mass of Stack (g) Cylinder Volume Density (g/mL)
(mL)
(mL)

By volume Initial: 12.00

12.5564 1.95 6.44
displacement
Final: 13.95

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The likely metal that this penny is comprised of is: Zinc (density = 7.14 g/mL and copper = 8.96 g/mL)

Why do I think this is the case?

The measured density the penny stack, while off by 9.8%,
[(7.14 – 6.44)/7.14]  100%, from the actual density value, it is much
closer to the actual density of zinc than it is to copper which is off by
28%, [(8.96 – 6.44)/8.96]  100%.