Density of Solids (Lab Report)

Density of Solids Lab Introduction The purpose of this lab was to explore the different ways of Þnding the density of solids using laboratory processes. Throughout the lab, I am trying to answer the question, ÒHow can the density of a solid be found?Ó This is an important topic because knowing how to Þnd the density of solids can be helpful in many ways, including identifying an unknown solid. My hypothesis for this experiment was, ÒIf an object has a high mass-to-volume ratio, then it is considered dense because density equals mass over volume.Ó To test/reach my hypothesis, I estimated the densities of multiple regular and irregular-shaped sports balls using the given mass and volumes, then used water displacement to calculate their exact densities. Materials and Procedure First of all, you are going to need the following materials: A table tennis ball, an inßatable football, a golf ball, a questionable baseball, an inßation pin, an air pump, a 5-gallon bucket of water, a large storage container (to lift under the bucket), a towel, a mass balance, a wide mouth 500 ml graduated cylinder, and a ruler or a tape measure. There are three parts to this experiment. Part 1: Regularly shaped objects To start, You will determine the mass of the regularly shaped balls. Next, you will estimate the volume of the regularly shaped balls. You will then need to calculate the estimated density of each regularly shaped ball. After that, Measure the volume of each regularly shaped ball. Finally, you will calculate the density of each regularly shaped ball. Part II: Irregularly Shaped Solids Now you will determine the mass of the irregularly shaped football while it is inßated and then estimate the volume of the football while it is inßated. After that, calculate the estimated density of the inßated football. You will then determine the volume of the football while it is inßated. Continue by calculating the density of the inßated football. Then, Determine the mass and volume of the irregularly shaped football after it is deßated. After that, you will determine the volume of the regularly shaped football after it is deßated. Continue by calculating the density of the deßated football. Finally, Calculate the error between the estimated and calculated densities. Part III: Identifying a Substance Using Its Density All you need to calculate the density of the questionable ball for validation and Dispose of, dry off, and re-inßate all materials according to your teacherÕs directions. Data and Observations ! ! The data from these tables show both quantitative and qualitative data. Table A shows a table tennis ball compared to a golf ball, Table B shows an inßated football compared to a deßated football, and Table C shows the process of determining whether the questionable baseball is legitimate. In table A, The table tennis ball has a very low mass to volume ratio making it less dense than the golf ball, which has a very high mass to volume ratio. The table tennis ball has a 0.07g density making it less dense than water (1.00g), so during the displacement test, I observed that the ball ßoated. However, the golf ball was denser than water, with a density of 1.15g, so as I did the water displacement test, I observed that the ball sank. For the questionable baseball, I used its mass and volume to calculate its density and prove that it was legitimate. The acceptable density range of an ofÞcial baseball is between 0.70g and 0.80g. I found that the questionable baseball had a density of 0.73g, which Þts right in between the acceptable range, making it a legitimate, ofÞcial baseball. Analysis The key results indicate that objects with a higher mass-to-volume ratio are denser than objects with lower mass-to-volume ratios. One problem with the method of this experiment was that I calculated the volume of both the inßated and deßated footballs by comparing them to multiple table tennis balls. This made the estimated density of these balls very off from the calculated densities found with displacement. Although I knew my estimated volumes were off, I was surprised to see that I had a 56% error on my estimated vs. calculated density for the deßated football and an 89% error for the inßated football. Conclusion My data shows that the golf ball had a much higher density than the table tennis ball despite being very close in volume. This is because the golf ball had a much higher mass-to-volume ratio. For the footballs, even though they had the same exact mass, the deßated football had a much lower volume than the inßated one. Because of this, the deßated football had a much higher mass-to-volume ratio despite having the same amount of mass as the inßated football. If I could repeat this experiment again, I would make sure to calculate the footballÕs volume with a ruler instead of comparing them to table tennis balls. This way, I would have a much more accurate volume, giving me a much more accurate density to prove my hypothesis easier. Overall, the experiment was sound and successful. Based on my Þndings, my hypothesis was correct. If an object has a high mass-to-volume ratio, then it is considered dense because density equals mass over volume.