Savannah Clifford

Grade 10 October 8, 2020

Exploring Mass, Volume, and Density Using a Laboratory Procedure

Introduction:

Purpose:​ By doing this lab I will be able to measure the mass, volume, and density of both

regularly and irregularly shaped solids and liquids using several types of techniques.

Question: ​How do you measure the mass, volume, and density of various types of objects?

Hypothesis: ​Finding the mass and volume of an object depends on its features however to find

the density of various types of objects, you divide the mass of an object by its volume regardless.

Variables: ​The variables in this experiment are mass, volume, and density along with irregularly

shaped and regularly shaped objects with different techniques. The dependent variables are the

mass, volume, and density of the objects while the independent variables are the techniques and

how the objects are shaped.

Materials and Procedures:

Materials: ​Metric ruler, customary ruler, graduated cylinder, distilled water, electronic mass

balance, block of wood, small rock, calculator.

Procedure:
Compare Metric and Customary Units

a) Using a metric ruler, measure the length in centimeters of one side of the wooden block. Be sure to
estimate to one place value beyond the ruler’s gradations. For example, if the ruler
is marked in centimeters, estimate millimeters. Record in table A of the data sheet.

b) Using a customary ruler, record the length of the same side of the wooden block in inches.
 Be sure to estimate to one place value beyond the ruler’s gradations. For example, if the ruler is marked
to a 16th of an inch, estimate to a 32nd of an inch. Record in table A.

c) Calculate ratios for the number of centimeters in an inch and the number of inches in a centimeter.
Record in table A.
Measure the Volume of a Regularly Shaped Object

a) Using the metric ruler, measure the other two dimensions of the wooden block in centimeters. Be sure
to estimate to one place value beyond the gradations on the ruler. Record all three measurements in
table B.

​ ​w ​× ​h​. Be sure to use the correct number of

b) Calculate the volume of the block using the formula ​V = l ×
significant figures. Record in both tables B and E
Measure the Mass of a Solid

a) Tare the balance. Place the wooden block on the pan, and record the block’s mass in grams in table E.

b) Tare the balance again. Place the rock on the pan, and record the rock’s mass in table E.

Measure the Mass of a Liquid

a) Tare the balance. Record the mass of the graduated cylinder (with air in it) in table C.

b) Remove the cylinder from the balance, and fill it approximately halfway with distilled water.

c) Tare the balance again. Record the combined mass of the cylinder and water in table C.

d) Find the mass of the water using subtraction. Record the result in tables C and E. Save the cylinder
and water for steps 6 and 7.

Measure the Volume of a Liquid

Place the graduated cylinder from step 5 on a flat surface. View the meniscus at eye level. (The meniscus is
the curve that forms at the top of the water in the graduated cylinder.) Measure the volume of water in mL at
​ f the meniscus, and record in tables D and E.
the ​bottom o

Measure the Volume of an Irregularly Shaped Object

a) Gently add the rock to the water in the graduated cylinder from steps 5 and 6, taking care to avoid
spills. Make sure the rock is fully submerged in the water.

b) Record the combined volume of the water and rock in table D.

c) Calculate the volume of the rock by subtracting the volume of the water from the volume of the rock
and water. Note the change of unit from mL to cm​3 ​because 1 mL = 1 cm​3​. Record the result in the tables
D and E.

Calculate Density
Density is defined by the equation ​d ​= . Calculate the density of the wooden block, the rock, and the water
by dividing the mass of each object by its volume. Record the density (g /cm​3​) for each object in table D.
Dispose of all materials according to the directions of your teacher.
Data

Record your data either in your lab notebook or in the space below.
 Table A: Comparing metric and customary units.

Length of block Length of block Ratio Ratio

(cm) (in) (cm/in) (in/cm)

2.78cm 1 3/32in 2.54 0.393

Table B: Volume of a Regularly Shaped Object

Length Width Height Calculated Volume

(cm) (cm) (cm) (cm​3​)

2.75cm 2.75cm 2.85cm 21.6

Table C: Mass of a Liquid

Mass of the Graduated Combined Mass of Calculated Mass of Water

Cylinder (only air) (g) graduated cylinder and (g)
water (g)

16.2g 43.2g 27g

Table D: Volume of an irregularly shaped solid

Volume of Water Combined Volume of water Calculated volume of rock

(mL) and rock (cm​3​)
(mL)

27.0 mL 41.3mL 14.3

Table E: Density of objects

Mass(g) Volume ​(cm​3​) Density ​ (g/cm​3​)

Wooden Block 10.7 21.6 0.495

Rock 47.7 14.3 3.34

Water 27 27.0 1.00

Analysis & Conclusion:

Throughout this lab we discovered and put to trial the different ways to find the mass, volume

and density of different types of objects. We used water, a rock and a wooden block to test our

hypothesis. From our experiment we can conclude that because a rock is irregularly shaped you

must use the displacement method to find its volume after placing it on a balance to find the

mass. Then indirectly find the density using the previous calculations. As we can see, the rock is
heavier and denser than water but the volume is less than both other objects. This shows that the

rock would sink in water but takes up less space. For the wooden block we can conclude that

ruler was the best way to find it's dimensions and a graduated cylinder to find the volume, then

like the rock use the previous calculations to find the density. Lastly from our data we can see A

graduated cylinder was the best way to measure the water's mass and volume and gave us clear

calculations to use to find the density. Not only did we conclude this data but from background

knowledge that anything that has a lesser density that water will float, we can also conclude that

using a graduated cylinder would not work for calculations of the wooden block. This is because

it would float and the data would be inaccurate. Although there could be a little room for error

such as small miss calculations or false measurements for some reason, overall the data supports

my hypothesis of this lab. This can be used for further research or constructions of boats etc.