Dirk Myburgh Physics 1: Practical 1 17/02/2012

Experiment 1.2 Density and Relative Density

Aim: The aim of this experiment is to determine the density of an irregular object.
Method: A measuring jar was filled half with water, and the volume noted. A given substance
mass was measured and noted before it was dropped into the measuring jar. The
new volume was then noted. The difference between the two water levels is the
volume of the given substance. Using the mass and the volume of the substance the
density is calculated.
Results:
The density of the object is calculated through the following formula:

The mass is in kg, and

the volume is in cubic meters. The reading in ml/cm
3
is converted to m
3
. The mass of the substance
is 1.224x10
-3
kg.
No. Initial reading (a) Final reading (b) Volume (b-a) Density (kg/m
3
)
1 9 ml 9.5 ml 0.5 ml 2448
2 5.4 ml 5.9 ml 0.5 ml 2448
3 7.5 ml 7.9 ml 0.4 ml 3060
4 5.7 ml 6.2 ml 0.5 ml 2448
5 6.1 ml 6.6 ml 0.5 ml 2448
Average 2570

The density of the stone is calculated as follows:

= 2570 kg/m
3

Conclusion: The calculations have shown that the given substance has a density of 0.2402 kg/m
3
.
These densities are only approximate, since human error could influence the results.
Human errors include not working accurately, or the instruments used could have
been calibrated wrong.