Density Lab

Hayley Petit Kathryn Burman Mrs. Mirolli STEM Chemistry 5th hour

Purpose: To determine the identity of three different metal substances using measurements and the density formula Materials: Three different metals with three samples per metal

50 mL of water (per test) 100 mL graduated cylinder electronic scale calculator data table computer

Procedure: 1. Collect a sample of one of the three metals. 2. Place the metal sample on the electronic scale to determine its mass. 3. Record findings in grams to the last decimal place shown on the scale. 4. Slide the sample carefully into the 100 mL graduated cylinder filled with 50 mL of water. 5. Record water displacement in milliliters by subtracting the 50 mL initial volume from the water level found after the sample is inside of the tube. Record findings to the tenths place. 6. Calculate the density of the sample by dividing the recorded mass by the recorded volume. Record quotient using the correct number of significant figures. 7. Repeat steps 1-6 until data has been recorded for three samples of all three metal substances. 8. Average the densities for each metal type. 9. After the instructor shows the accepted value and identity for each metal substance, calculate error and percent error for each metal. Prediction: If we find the densities of the three metal substances, then we will find that they are copper, lead, and zinc.

Data: Metal Substances Mass (grams) Volume (milliliters) Density (grams/milliliters) Substance 1 108.5 g 10.1 mL 10.7 g/mL

a) b) c) Substance 2 a) b) c) Substance 3 a) b) c) 120.1 g 120.4 g 37.7 g 44.7 g 53.3 g 73.6 g 91.9 g 63.8 g 11.1 mL 12.3 mL 14.4 mL 12.8 mL 19.9 mL 8.1 mL 11.2 mL 7.0 mL 10.8 g/mL 9.79 g/mL 2.62 g/mL 3.49 g/mL 2.68 g/mL 9.1 g/mL 8.21 g/mL 9.1 g/mL

Average Density Identity Substance 1 10.4 g/mL Substance 2 2.93 g/mL Lead

Accepted Density Error 11.35 g/mL

Percent Error

-0.95 g/ml 8.37% 0.23 g/ml 8.52%

Aluminum 2.70 g/mL

Substance 3 9.0 g/mL

Copper

8.96 g/mL

-0.16 g/ml 1.76%

Conclusion: This experiment was performed to find the identity of three unknown metals by finding their densities using formulas and measurements. We theorized that the metals were copper, lead, and zinc from visually observing them. By weighing three different samples of each of the three metals, we determined their masses. We determined their volume by using the water displacement method. By using the density formula of D=m/v, we found the densities of each sample. We then averaged the three densities of each metal to find the experimental densities. Our instructor gave us the actual identities of the metals and their accepted densities. The metals were lead, aluminum, and copper. We proceeded to calculate our error and percent

error for each of the metals using the accepted and experimental values. For lead, we found our experimental density to be 10.4 g/ml, and using the accepted density of 11.35 g/ml, found our error to be -.95 g/ml and our percent error to be 8.37%. For aluminum, we found our experimental density to be 2.93 g/ml, and using the accepted density of 2.70 g/ml, found our error to be .23 g/ml and our percent error to be 8.52%. For copper, we found our experimental density to be 8.80 g/ml, and using the accepted density of 8.96 g/ml, found our error to be -.16 g/ml and our percent error to be 1.76%. Our conclusion matches known science because we used proven formulas and accepted densities to determine what the metals were. If we could re-do this experiment, we would try and make the volumes more accurate by taking more time to measure the water levels before and after placing the metal into the graduated cylinder.