Specific gravity is the ratio of density of a substance compared to the density of fresh

water at 4C (39 F). At this temperature the density of water is at its greatest value
and equal 1 g/mL. Since specific gravity is a ratio, so it has no units. An object will
float in water if its density is less than the density of water and sink if its density is
greater that that of water. Similarly, an object with specific gravity less than 1 will
float and those with a specific gravity greater than one will sink. Specific gravity
values for a few common substances are: Au, 19.3; mercury, 13.6; alcohol, 0.7893;
benzene, 0.8786. Note that since water has a density of 1 g/cm3, the specific gravity is
the same as the density of the material measured in g/cm3.
The Discovery of Specific Gravity
The discovery of specific gravity makes for an interesting story. Sometime around
250 B.C., the Greek mathematician Archimedes was given the task of determining
whether a craftsman had defrauded King Heiro II of Syracuse. The king had provided
a metal smith with gold to make a crown. The king suspected that the metal smith had
added less valuable silver to crown and kept some of the gold for himself. The crown
weighed the same as other crowns but due to its intricate designs it was impossible to
measure the exact volume of the crown so its density could be determined. The king
challenged Archimedes to determine if the crown was pure gold. Archimedes had no
immediate answer and pondered this question for sometime.
One day while entering a bath, he noticed that water spilled over the sides of the pool,
and realized that the amount of water that spilled out was equal in volume to the space
that his body occupied. He realized that a given mass of silver would occupy more
space than an equivalent mass of gold. Archimedes first weighed the crown and
weighed out an equal mass of pure gold. Then he placed the crown in a full container
of water and the pure gold in a container of water. He found that more water spilled
over the sides of the tub when the craftsmans crown was submerged. It turned out
that the craftsman had been defrauding the King! Legend has it that Archimedes was
so excited about his discovery that he ran naked through the streets of Sicily shouting
Eureka! Eureka! (Which is Greek for I have found it!).
https://www.nde-
ed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/Materials/Physical_Chemical/SpecificGravity.htm
The specific gravity of a material is the density of that material compared to the density of some
standard. For solids and liquids, the most common standard is water, whose density is
1.00 gram per cubic centimeter.

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