Density: A Characteristic Property Fides Ybanez Abstract The objective of this experiment was to know how to determine density and understand that density characterizes specific substances. Mass, for both liquid and solid, was measured using an electronic analytical balance while the volume for liquid used a volumetric pipette. Since the solids were irregularly-shaped, water displacement method of measuring its volume was used.
The experiment was divided into two parts. The first part was determining the densities of liquids such as acetone, ethyl alcohol, ethyl acetate and water. The density of an unknown substance was also determined by measuring its mass and volume. The results showed a density of 0.899 ± 0.01 g/mL which is characteristic of ethyl acetate.
The second part determined the densities of tin and silicon. From these densities, the density of germanium was calculated at 72.53 ± 0.02 g/mL.
Introduction Density is a physical property and is one of the different ways to identify substance because each substance has unique density. (http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/120Adensity.html) Density is an intensive property which means it is a property that is independent of the amount of matter.
Density is the ratio between mass and volume. It tells whether a substance is compact or loosely packed. Mathematically, density is mass divided by its volume:
D is the density;
M is the mass; and
V is its volume.
Density is commonly compared to water and used to know whether a substance will float or sink when placed in it. Water has a density of 0.9999 g/mL at 1 atm and 4oC. Anything that is less dense than water will float and those that are more dense will sink.
Densities of substances used in this experiment are listed in the table below.
Table 1-1. Densities of Some Liquid Substances at 25oC.
Ethyl Acetate, CH3COOCH2CH3
Ethyl Alcohol, CH2CH3OH
Since density is a way of identifying substances, it will tell the identity of the unknown substance. If the density obtained will be close to any of those listed in Table 1-1, then the identity of the substance will be known.
Experimental Methods Measurement of the mass was done using an electronic analytical balance with an accuracy of 0.0001 and volume measurements were done using 1-mL volumetric pipettes and pipettors.
A previously cleaned and dried empty vial with stopper was weighed in the balance. Using a 1.00-mL volumetric pipet, a liquid samples was pipetted and placed in the weighed vial. This was repeated for all liquid samples and for each liquid sample, three trials were prepared and measured. The same procedure was done for the unknown liquid sample. All data are recorded in Table 1-2.
For the density of solids, an empty 25-mL beaker was weighed. Enough amount of solids were placed in the beaker and weighed. A 10-mL graduated cylinder was half-filled with water and the solid was placed in it. The amount of solid placed was enough to make the water rise to about 3 mL. The same procedure was done for both solids used and three trials for each solid were done. Data for this part of the experiment are recorded in Table 1-3.
The density of germanium was obtained from the densities of tin and silicon.
Results Part A of the experiment is the determination of densities of different liquid substances. The mass and volume obtained from this experiment and the calculated densities of the liquid substances are shown in the table below.
Table 1-2. Mass, Volume & Densities of Liquid Substances.
Mass of Empty Vial + Stopper
Mass of Vial with Liquid and Stopper
Density was calculated using the formula D=m/V. A sample calculation of the density of acetone using trial 1 is shown below.
m mass of acetone 0.8048 g
D = = = = 0.805 g/mL
V Volume of acetone 1.00 mL
A sample calculation of how the mean density for acetone was obtained is also shown below.
Trial 1 Density + Trial 1 Density + Trial 1 Density
Calculated absolute deviation (based on accepted densities in Table 1-1) and percent error on densities of liquid substances are shown in Table 1-3 below.
Table 1-3. Deviation and Percent Error on Densities of Liquid Substances.
Calculation for the percent error for acetone is shown below. It uses the formula:
⃒ Accepted Value – Experimental Value ⃒
Percent Error = -------------------------------------------------- x 100
⃒ 0.791 - 0.830 ⃒
= ------------------------- x 100 = 4.9 %
The table above shows the experimental values of the densities of the liquid samples obtained are 0.830 ± 0.039 g/mL for acetone, 0.967 ± 0.065 g/mL for ethyl acetate and 0.770 ± 0.11 g/mL for hexane. Furthermore, the errors from the experiment were 4.9% for acetone, 7.2% for ethyl acetate and 16% for hexane.
Table 1-4 shows the details obtained or the unknown liquid.
Table 1-4. Determination of Density of Unknown Liquid.
Mass of Empty Test Tube + Stopper (grams)
Mass of Test Tube with Unknown Liquid and Stopper (grams)
Mass of Unknown Liquid (grams)
Volume of Unknown Liquid (mL)
Density of Unknown Liquid (g/mL)
Mean Density of Unknown (g/mL)
The unknown substance was found to have a density of 0.905 ± 0.003 g/mL which indicates that it is ethyl acetate. The result showed an error of 0.3%.
In Part B, the density of solids were obtained and were used to calculate the density of germanium. The data from the experiment are shown in Table 1.5 below.
Table 1.5. Determination of Density of Silicon and Tin.
Mass of Container (grams)
Mass of Container and Solid (grams)
Volume of Water (mL)
Volume of Water and Solid (mL)
Volume of Solid (mL)
Mass of Remaining Solid (grams)
Mass of Solid (grams)
Density of Solid (g/mL)
Mean Density (g/mL)
Accepted Value (g/mL)
The density obtained for silicon is 2.33 ± 0.563 g/mL with an error of 24% and that of tin was 6.833 ± 2.1222 g/mL with an error of 29%.
The calculated density of germanium based from the data above, is 4.82 g/mL ± 0.503 g/mL. The calculation was obtained as follows:
Atomic Number of Ge - Atomic Number of Si Density of Ge - Density of Si
Density of Ge = ---------------------- = 4.82 g/mL
Since the accepted value is 5.323 g/mL, the calculated value has a deviation of 0.503 and an error of 9.4%. Therefore, the calculated density of germanium is 4.82 ± 0.503 g/mL.
Conclusions The densities of acetone, ethyl acetate and hexane were 0.830 ± 0.039 g/mL, 0.967 ± 0.065 g/mL and 0.770 ± 0.11 g/mL, respectively. The errors from the determination of the densities were 4.9% for acetone, 7.2% for ethyl acetate and 16% for hexane. The unknown liquid was determined to be ethyl acetate with a density of 0.905 ± 0.003 g/mL. There was an error of 0.3%.
There was large deviation in the densities obtained for ethyl acetate and hexane. Less error was found in the density of acetone and very minimal error in the determination of the density of the unknown. The large errors could be attributed to the lack of vials. All three trials were done using only one vial which resulted to having some liquid left-over from the previous trial.
The density obtained for silicon was 2.33 ± 0.563 g/mL with an error of 24% and that of tin was 6.833 ± 2.1222 g/mL with an error of 29%. The density of germanium was calculated to be 4.82 ± 0.503 g/mL and an error of 9.4%. The errors were mostly due to lack of experience in the use of the equipment.
Note: Below are examples of how your references should be written in your paper. The ones above are just examples.
Fox, J.W. 1988. Nest-building behavior of the catbird, Dumetella carolinensis. Journal of Ecology 47: 113-17.
Bird, W.Z. 1990. Ecological aspects of fox reproduction. Berlin: Guttenberg Press.
For chapters in books:
Smith, C.J. 1989. Basal cell carcinomas. In Histological aspects of cancer, ed. C.D. Wilfred, pp. 278-91. Boston: Medical Press.