Lab 5

Calibrating a Simple Hydrometer

Objective
Determine the sugar concentration of a solution using a hydrometer.

Background
A hydrometer measures the density of a solution
by floating.
The higher the hydrometer floats, the more
dense (concentrated) the solution is.

Experiment

Pour about 50.0 mL of pure water into a 50 mL grad. cyl.

Measure the height of the stem above the liquid level.

Prepare your solutions using tap water

and the correct grams of sugar.

Sugar Solution
Pure Water (0%)
Tap Water
2%
4%
6%
8%
Unknown

Height of Stem Above Water Level (cm)

Analysis
1. Create a graph that displays the height of the hydrometer
stem vs. sugar concentration. Place the sugar concentration
on the horizontal axis and the stem height (in cm) on the
vertical. Connect the dots on this graph with a best fit line.
This is your calibration curve. Dont forget to label the axiss,
units, and give a title to the graph.
2. Use your calibration curve to determine the approximate
sugar concentration in the unknown.

Results

Questions
1. Why is it important that no water was added to the
hydrometer during this lab?
2. Name three sources of error in this experiment.
3. What is a hydrometer?
4. People claim that it is easier to float in the ocean that in a
lake or pool, explain why.
5. Was it important to always use 50 mL of solution?
Explain why or why not.