MEEG317Laboratory1SpecificGravityofOil

By
AbigailEzedonmwen
Objectives
Theobjectiveofthepresentedworkistoexperimentallycalculatethespecificgravityof
oilusingvariousutubemanometers.Theresultofthisexperimentwillhelpstudents
makethepropercorrelationsbetweendensityandspecificgravity.
ApparatusandProcedure
Inthisexperiment,threeopenutubemanometerwerecreatedandboltedtoawooden
panel.Thesemanometers
#1
#2
#3
variedindiameters.First,
Heightof
.240m
.239m
.241m
studentsusedafunneltoinsert
Water
waterintothemanometers.
Heightof
.179m
.183m
.181m
Oncethatwascompleted,the
Oil
heightsfromthebaseofthe
Diameter
2cm
1.2cm
1.7cm
manometertothefreesurface
weremeasured.Then,studentplacedoilintothemanometerscreatingachangeinheight
fromthelinewheretheoilandwatermeettothefreesurfaceoftheoil.Thenextsection
willdescribehowthespecificgravityanddensitieswerecalculatedforthisexperiment.
DataandFindings
Inordertothefindthespecificgravitytheheightsofthewaterandoilinthemanometers
areneeded.Theheightvaluesareusedtocalculatearatioforspecificgravityalongwith
theirrespectivedensities.Themeasuredheightsanddiametersforeachmanometerare
showninTable1.Thespecificgravitywillbedeterminedusingtheheightsbelow.
Table1

Analysis
ThedatapresentedonTable1canbeusedtocalculatedthespecificgravityusingits

heights
S .G .(experimental )=

H water
(1)
H oil

WherethespecificgravityissimplyaratiobetweenwaterandoilinEq(1).Also,notethe
specificgravitycanbefoundusingthedensityofoilandwater.
Oil
960 kg/m 3
S .G .(referenced )=
=
=.98(2)
Water 998 kg/m 3
kg
similartocastoroilwhichwas
m3
referencedbyasource(EngineeringToolbox).Thevalueusingthestandardvalueof
densityforwaterandoilwasusedtocalculateourcalculatedspecificgravity,whichis.
98usingEq(2).BelowonTable2arethenumericalspecificgravityfoundforeach
manometerusingtheheight.
Thedensityofoilusedintheexperimentwas960

SpecificGravity
(experimental)

#1
1.35

Table2
#2
1.31

#3
1.32

Discussion
Thespecificgravitywasdeterminedexperimentallyintheprevioussection.Itsisnow
necessarytoverifytheaccuracyofthisexperimentallyandcomparedtothedetermined
value.ThereferencevaluewaspreviouslyfoundusingEquation2.Thevaluesreferenced
werefoundusethewebtoolsonEngineeringToolboxwhichwas998kg/m3,thedensity
ofwaterand960kg/m3,thedensityofcastoroil.Note,theoilchosenfromthechartwas
castoroilbecauseitsclosesimilarityinthicknessandfluidflow.Inordertoconfirmour
resultsweuseEq(3)below:
S .G .expS . G .ref
(3)
S .G .ref
Studentscalculatedthepercenterrorforeachmanometer(shownonTable3)andthe
averagepercenterroris22%.
Table3
#1
#2
#3
Average
Percent 23%
21%
22%
21%
Error
%error=

Itshouldbenotedthattheymanometershadagreatamountofresiduefromthe
experimentbeingexecutedanumberoftime.However,theleftoverresiduefrom
previousexperimentscanaddanywherefrom.5to2inchestotheheightofoilwhich
makesabigdifference,resultinginapercenterrorrangingfrom15%to40%.The

specificgravitiesfortheexperimentalwereabout20%largerthanthecalculatedspecific
gravityfoundforoil.Alsonote,onthereferencedworktheyrewasnotanydatafor
vegetableoilthereforeleavingstudentstofindthemostcloselyrelatedoildensity.
Conclusion
Thequantitativeinaccuraciesareduetoaseriesoffactors.Onecontributoristheresidue
frompreviousstudentsexecutingtheexperiment.Othercontributorsarethemeasured
heightswereonlybutsoaccurateduetotheeyeballrecordingsofthemeasuringtape.
Thisexperimentdemonstratestherelationshipbetweenforcesandfluids.
References
"LiquidsDensities."LiquidsDensities.EngineeringToolbox,n.d.Web.4Sept.2016.