Experiment 5: Relative Density

Laboratory Report

Andrea Benavidez, Kimiko Beltran, Rachel Cajiles, Ralph Canivel

Department of Math and Physics

College of Science, University of Santo Tomas
España, Manila Philippines

Abstract density of a sample substance under specified

conditions. Water was usually the one used as
This experiment determines the
the standard substance. The density of water is
components of substances with different
1 g/ml. to determine the density of a liquid by
densities. Three activities were done in this
using a pycnometer, and to determine the
experiment. The first one was to know and
density of a substance by Archimedes Principle.
compare the density of a specific cylinder as
compared to the standard one by knowing the Theory
volume and weight of the cylinder provided and
Relative density can be defined as the
computing for its percent error. The volume of 7
ratio of the density of one substance to that of a
ml and the weight of 16.57 g was used to
reference substance – in the case where water
determine the density which was 2.37 g/cc. The
is used as a reference substance, the term
percent error obtained was 12.22%. The second
specific gravity is used to refer to this ratio. In
activity was to know the density of the bone.
this experiment, the relative density of a bone
The weight of the bone in air, 75g, and in water,
was computed through the use of the following
50g, was determined. These measurements
formula:
were used to know the density of bone which
was 3 g/cc. The third experiment was to know 𝑾𝑨
R.D. = 𝑾
the density of a regular soft drink and density of 𝑨 −𝑾𝑾

a diet soft drink using a pycnometer. The Where WA is weight of the bone in air,
densities obtained were 1.008 g/cc and 1.00
g/cc, respectively. and WW is the weight of the bone in water.

Introduction The bone’s relative density was then

Density is a characteristic property of a
substance. It is the relationship between the
mass of the substance and its volume. It degree
of compactness of a substance. The atomic
mass, size, and arrangement determines the
density of a substance. It is obtained by dividing
the mass of a substance over its volume.
Objects with similar volume but different
masses have different densities. To determine
the density of a liquid or powder, one must use
a pycnometer.
Relative density is defined as the ratio
of density of a standard substance to the
used to compute for its density using the
following formula:
density of bone = (R.D.) * density of water
In another part of the experiment, the
relative density of regular soft drink and diet
softdrink was computed through the use of the
following formulas:
𝑾 −𝑾
R.D. of regular soft drink = 𝑾 𝑹 −𝑾𝒑
𝑾 𝑷
𝑾 −𝑾
R.D. of diet softdrink = 𝑾 𝑫 −𝑾𝑷
𝑾 𝑷
 Where WP is the weight of an empty
pycnometer,
WW is the weight of a pycnometer filled with
water,
WR is the weight of a pycnometer filled with
regular soft drink,
and WD is the weight of a pycnometer filled with
diet soft drink.
Methodology
In this experiment, the materials used
are: spring scale, graduated cylinder, beaker,
cylinder, bone from pig`s or cow`s leg, regular
and coke zero (diet) soft drinks and
pycnometer.
In activity 1, a cylinder was weighed
using the digital beam balance. In a graduated
cylinder, a small amount of water was placed as
its initial level was noted exactly as possible.
The cylinder was placed inside the graduated
cylinder and due to impenetrability, the cylinder
displaced the volume of the water equal to their
volume and the new level of water was noted.
The volume of the cylinder was determined as
its volume is the difference between the two
levels of water. And also, the density of the
cylinder was determined.
In activity 2, the bone was weighed in
air and recorded it as WA. A piece of thread was
tied to the bone and it was immersed in a
beaker of water wherein the bone immersed in
water was weighed and recorded as WW. The
relative density of the bone was computed by
using the formula:
𝑾𝑨
𝑹. 𝑫. =
𝑾𝑨 − 𝑾𝑾
The density of the bone was solved also using
the formula:
𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆
= 𝑹. 𝑫. 𝒙 𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓
In activity 3, the weight of empty
pycnometer (Wp), weight of pycnometer filled
with water (Ww), weight of pycnometer filled
with regular soft drink (Wr) and the weight of
pycnometer filled with diet soft drink (Wl) were
determined. The relative density of regular soft
drink and light soft drink was solved using the
formula:
𝑊𝑟 − 𝑊𝑝
𝑅. 𝐷. 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑓𝑡 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑘 =
𝑊𝑤− 𝑊𝑝
𝑊𝑙 − 𝑊𝑝
𝑅. 𝐷. 𝑜𝑓 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑓𝑡 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑘 = 𝑊𝑤− 𝑊𝑝
Also, the density of regular and diet soft drinks
was solved.
Results and Discussion
Table 1: Relative Density of Cylinder
Activity One
Weight of cylinder (g) 16.57
Initial Level of Water (mL) 60
Final Level of Water (mL) 67
Volume of Cylinder (mL) 7
Density of Cylinder (g/mL) 2.37
% error 12.22
Accepted Value (g/mL) 2.7
In Table 1, the volume of the cylinder
can be solved by making use of a graduated
cylinder and the displacement of its volume
once the cylinder is placed within. The cylinder
used by the students was an Aluminum and had
an accepted value for density of 2.7g/mL
whereas based on experiments the students
produced 2.37g/mL with a percent error of
12.22%. The error may be brought about by the
method of gaining the data and the way the
density was solved.
Table 2: Relative Density of Bone

Activity 2
Weight of Bone (air) (g) 75
Weight of Bone (water) (g) 50 Figure 1. Diet coke and Regular coke
Rel. Density of Bone 3 respectively floats in a water
Density of Bone (g/mL) 3
Finding Osteopetrosis

Table 2, describes the density of a given

to the students by the Laboratory instructors.
This experiment tests if the bone given has a
given condition of either osteoporosis,
osteopetrosis, or osteopenia. Based on the
formulas and solution said above, the finding of
the students is that their given bone has
Osteopetrosis which is more than 1 standard
deviation from the mean. The density of the
said bone is 3 g/mL.
Table 3: Relative Density of Coke and Diet Coke
Activity Three
14.99
Weight of empty pycnometer (g)
Weight of pycnometer with water (g) 40.24
Weight of pycnometer with reg coke
40.44
(g)
Weight of pycnometer with diet coke
40.19
(g)
Rel. Density of reg. coke 1.008
Density of reg. coke (g/mL) 1.008
Rel. Density of diet coke 1.00
Density of diet coke (g/mL) 1.00
The last table is to test the relative densities of
coke and diet coke. The density of coke based
on the formula is 1.008 g/ml whereas diet coke
on the other hand has a density of 1.00 g/mL
which makes diet coke lighter by .008 g/mL as
you can see on figure 1. Based on these findings
it can be inferred that diet coke is indeed
“lighter” than regular coke products.
Conclusion
The first activity was performed to
determine the composition of a substance
based on its density. The result of this
activity was the density of the cylinder was
computed to be 2.37g/cc. It was compared
to the standard densities given by the
professor and it was determined that the
composition of the cylinder was aluminum.
In the second activity, the relative density of
a bone was calculated by dividing the
weight in air of the bone by the weight in
water subtracted to the weight in air of the
bone. The relative density obtained was
3.00g/cc and with this, the group concluded
that the bone has osteopetrosis since it has
a higher ISD than the normal bone density.
The third experiment was performed to
determine who has a greater density, the
regular soft drink or the diet soft drink. This
experiment was done using a pycnometer.
The densities of regular soft drink and diet
soft drink calculated by the group was
1.008g/cc and 1.00g/cc, respectively.
Application
1. How can you distinguish “Fool’s
Gold” from pure gold?
To distinguish “Fool’s gold” from
pure gold, one can place the two
sample in water. For “Fool’s gold”
will float while the pure gold will
sink into the bottom since the
density of pure gold is greater than
the “Fool’s gold”.
2. The solid sample s used in the
experiment are denser than water.
How will you determine the density
of a solid that is less dense than
water? Explain the formula that you
will use.
We can still use the liquid
displacement method in looking for
the density of a solid that is less
dense than water. Put the solid
sample in water then note how
much water is displaced by the
floating sample. Next is you
submerge the solid sample fully
under the water. Calculate the
relative density of the solid by
dividing the density when it is
floating by when it is submerged.
Since the density of water is 1.00
g/cc, then the relative density is
equivalent to the solid.
3. The suitability of a person to
donate blood may be tested by
placing a drop of his blood in a
saline solution of density 1.03g/cc.
Is he a suitable donor if the drop of
blood sinks? Explain your answer.
The normal density of blood is
1.06g/cc. If the blood will sink in the
saline solution, that means it has
greater density than the saline
solution. Thus, he is a suitable blood
donor.
4. What is the meaning of the
expression “tip of the iceberg”? Is
there a physical basis for this?
The expression tip of the iceberg
means that you are only seeing a
small portion of something. The
physical basis for this is that the
majority of the iceberg is submerged
underwater and you are only seeing
the tip of it.
5. Normal relative density of urine is
from 1.015-1.030. What might be
said if during urinalysis, a specific
gravity higher than normal is
obtained?
If someone has a relative density
higher than the normal relative
density of the urine, it is said that
the person is dehydrated. The higher
the number, the more dehydrated
the person is.
Reference:
American Chemical Society. (2017). What is
density? Retrieved October 16, 2017,
from http://www.mid dleschool
chemistry.com/lessonplans/chapter3/le
sson1

Cutnell, J., Johnson, K., Young, D., & Stadler, S.

(2015). Physics (10th ed.). Asia: John
Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd.

What is Density? (n.d.). Retrieved April 01,

2018,from oolchemistry
.com/lessonplans /chapter3/lesson1