Does It Sink or Float???
Water Density Experiment
Fremont PDMS
19 and 20 of February 2014
What is density?
 The density of a substance is the relationship
between the mass of the substance and how much
space it takes up (volume).
Density = mass/volume
Mass usually expressed in grams
Volume usually expressed in cubic centimeter
Density of Water
 Water molecules have the same mass and size.
Therefore, density is the same for any amount of
water:
1 gram per cubic centimeter
Objects Verses Water
 Because the density of
water equals 1 g/cubic cm:
 Any object with a density
above 1 g/cubic cm will
sink
 Any object with a density
below 1 g/cubic cm will
float
Objective of Experiment
 Students will be able to measure the volume and
mass of water and calculate its density.
 Students will be able to explain that since any volume
of water has the same density, at a given
temperature, that density is a characteristic of water.
Materials




Density Cub Set
Ruler
Balance
Your handy dandy science
NOTEBOOK!
Procedures
(1) Find the mass of each cube using a balance and
record results in the data table.
(2) Find the volume of each cube (Length x Width x
Height) and record results in the data table.
(3) Calculate the density and record the results in the
data table:
Density = mass/volume
Results
Cube #
Mass (g)
Volume (cm^3)
Density
(g/cm^3)
Conclusion
 What determines whether a cube will float or sink in
water?
 Which cubes would sink in water?
 Which cubes would float in water?
 Describe how you determined the volume of the
cubes.
 Describe how you found the density for each cube.
BONUS!
Ask Ms. Kelley, Ms. Herrera, or Ms. Mels if you
and your group can test your conclusion!
This must be done once you have completed
your result and conclusion section.