MEASUREMENT OF DENSITY Introduction In order to classify and identify materials of a wide variety, scientists use numbers called physical

constants (e.g. density, melting point, boiling point, index of refraction) which are characteristic of the material in question. These constants do not vary with the amount or shape of the material, and are therefore useful in positively identifying unknown materials. tandard reference works have been complied containing lists of data for a wide variety of substances. The chemist makes use of this in determining the identity of an unknown substance, by measuring the appropriate physical constants in the laboratory, consulting the scientific literature, and then comparing the measured physical constants with the values for known materials. This experiment illustrates several approaches to the measurement of the density of liquids and solids. !ensity is a measure of the "compactness# of matter within a substance and is defined by the equation$ !ensity % mass&volume eq '. The standard metric units in use for mass and volume respectively are grams and milliters or cubic centimeters. Thus, density has the unit grams&milliter (g&ml) or grams&cubic centimenters (g&cc). The literature values are usually given in this unit. !ensity may be calculated from a separate mass and volume measurement, or, in the case of liquids, may be determined directly by the use of an instrument called hydrometer. (olume measurements for liquids or gases are made using a graduated containers, for example, a graduated cylinder. )or solids, the volume can be obtained either from the measurement of the dimensions of the solid or by displacement. The first method can be applied to solids with regular geometric shapes for which the mathematical formulas can be used to calculate the volume of the solid from the dimensions of the solid. *lternatively, the volume of any solid ob+ect, irregular or regularly shaped, can be measured by displacement. The solid is submerged in a liquid in which it is not soluble, and the volume of liquid displaced measured. The hydrometer measures density directly. *n ob+ect that is less dense than a liquid will float in that liquid density to a depth such that the mass of the ob+ect submerged equals the mass of the of the liquid displaced (*rchimedes, -rinciple). ince mass equals density . volume (see equation '), an ob+ect floated in liquids of different densities will displace different volumes of liquid. * hydrometer is a tube of constant mass that has been calibrated to measure density by floating the hydrometer in liquids of known densities and recording on a scale the fraction of the hydrometer submerged. *ny hydrometer can be used over a limited range of densities because the hydrometer must float in the liquid being studied and the hydrometer level must be sufficiently submerged to obtain an on scale reading. /ydrometers may be calibrated in g&ml or some other unit of density. In the following experiment, the identities of three colorless liquids will be determined by measuring the densities of the liquids by two methods and then comparing the density of the liquid to literature (reference) values for the three liquids. The identity of an unknown metal will be established in a similar manner.

Procedure ') 0eigh a clean, dry 12ml graduated cylinder. *dd approximately 32ml of liquid to your weighed 12ml graduated cylinder without bothering to measuring out the liquid accurately. 4ow carefully read and record whatever amount of liquid there is in the cylinder. 0eigh the cylinder and liquid, and then calculate the density of the liquid. 5epeat this procedure to find the density of each liquid 6) !etermine the density of each of the above, using a hydrometer and an ungraduated cylinder. 5ead the density from where the liquid crosses the hydrometer,s scale. 3) 0eigh and record the mass of an unknown metal cylinder. *lso record the identity of the unknown metal cylinder (*, 7, 8, or !). 8alculate the volume of the metal cylinder by measuring (in cm) the height (h) and diameter (d) of the metal cylinder and then applying the formula$ (olume (cc) % % h x 2.9:1d6. *lso, measure the volume of the metal cylinder by displacement of water in a 12ml graduated cylinder. 8alculate the density of the metal cylinder for each method of measuring volume and identify the metal by comparing the value obtained with the literature values for various metals. ;) <sing any appropriate procedure learned above, find the density of one of the following more ob+ects$ a coin, a piece of chalk, a small cork., )ormulas for volumes of regular shaped ob+ects *rea of circle = d6, where d % diameter, and % 3.';'1> (olume of a cylinder % area of base x height (olume of a sphere '&? d3

Data and Calulations 4ame@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ !ate@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@Aab section@@@@@@@@ a) 0eight of graduated cylinder@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@g Aiquid * Aiquid 7 [Link] cyl B liquid 0t. of liquid (olume of liquid !ensity @@@@@@@@g @@@@@@@@g @@@@@@@@ml @@@@@@@@@g&ml @@@@@@@@@g @@@@@@@@@g @@@@@@@@@ml @@@@@@@@@g&ml Aiquid 8 @@@@@@@@@g @@@@@@@@@g @@@@@@@@@ml @@@@@@@@@g&ml

b) !ensity as determined with hydrometer$ @@@@@@@@@g&ml Aiterature value$ @@@@@@@@@g&ml c) !ata for metal cylinder unknown 4o.@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ unknown color@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ weight @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@g height @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@cm diameter @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@cm volume(a)@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@cc (by calculation) volume(b)@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ml (by displacement, ' ml % ' cc) density(a)@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@(b) @@@@@@@@@@@@@g&cc(g&ml) identity of metal@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ literature value of density@@@@@@@@@@@ literature source@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@g&ml @@@@@@@@@@g&ml @@@@@@@@@g&ml @@@@@@@@@g&ml

!ensity for special materials ') Identity and description of material$

Cass of material (olume of material !ensity of material

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

6) Identity and description of material$

Cass of material (olume of material !ensity of material

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

3) Identity and description of material$

Cass of material (olume of material !ensity of material

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Questions ') 0hy is density a physical property useful for identifying an unknown substanceD

6) *s the density of a given liquid increases, will the hydrometer used to determine it float higher or lower in the liquidD Explain.

3) If a hydrometer touches bottom in a liquid, is its range too high or low for the liquidD 0hyD

;) a. 8alculate the volume of ;6.2g of tin (density 9.6>g&ml)D

b. 8alculate the mass of ;: ml of lead (density ''.3;g&ml)D

1) 8alculate the density of 61.2ml of concentrated hydrochloric acid weighs 3;.61g.

?) Indicate the density reading for each of the following hydrometers (shown by the position for the arrows). Five the correct number of digits and units.

)igure 'G/ydrometers for question ?.