Lab Report 1
Meena, Iyonna, Porter, and Daniel Afolabi
21. February, 2024
Introduction
The concept being investigated is density, which is defined as the mass per unit volume
of a substance. Density can be used to determine if two objects are made of the same material
because objects made of the same material will have the same density. Therefore, density can
help answer the guiding question of whether the two objects in this investigation are made of the
same material.
Methods
To determine the density, the mass and volume of each object needs to be measured. A
balance was used to find the mass of each object. Two methods were used to find the volume water displacement and calculations using ruler measurements. The water displacement method
involved filling a graduated cylinder with a known with 50mL of water, submerging the object to
find the new total volume, and taking the difference between the two volumes. This method is
very accurate. The ruler method involved taking length and diameter measurements of the
objects with a ruler and calculating the volume using the equation for volume of a cylinder (V =
πr2L). We used a spill can to measure the volume of water displaced by each object. This helped
to reduce error by minimizing the amount of water that was spilled. We also took multiple
measurements of each object and calculated the average value. This helped to improve the
reliability of our results and reduce random errors.
Results and Discussion
The data for this experiment is shown in the following table:
Mass (g)
Object A
(silver)
13.565
Volume
(displaceme
nt, mL)
5.1
Object B
(black)
7.948
5.1
Volume
(ruler, cm³)
5.24
Density
(displaceme
nt, g/mL)
2.7
Density
(ruler,
g/cm³)
2.89
5.63
1.6
1.41
Volume of a cylinder = πr2L
Density = Mass / Volume
The average density of Object A (silver) was 2.7 g/mL using water displacement and 2.89
g/mL using ruler measurements. For Object B (black), the densities were 1.6 g/mL and 1.41
g/mL for the two methods, respectively. The water displacement method is more accurate, so
those density values carry more weight. The density of Object A is higher than Object B,
indicating they are made of different materials. Therefore, my claim is that Object A and B are
not made of the same material.
The density values support this claim because if the objects were the same material, their
densities would be equal. The water displacement densities differ by 1.1 g/mL, which is a
significant difference, providing strong evidence that they are different materials. The ruler
measurements also show different densities, although the values are less reliable because of
systematic errors that may happen during imprecise measurements with a ruler. There is some
variation between trials, indicating random error. Overall, the density data provides sufficient
evidence to confidently state the objects are not the same material.
Conclusion
In conclusion, based on the density analysis, Object A (silver) and Object B (black) do
not have the same density and are therefore made of different materials. My claim is that the two
objects are not made of the same material, which is supported by the density evidence calculated
in this investigation.