Chemistry: Thickness of Aluminum
Foil
September 5, 2012
Drill
1.
2.
How do you determine the
thickness/height of something very thin,
like aluminum foil?
/5
What materials would you use to solve
this problem?
/5
Materials Needed:
Pen, Paper, and Calculator
/5
Objective
Students will be able to select appropriate
instruments and materials in order to
determine the thickness of aluminum foil.
Overview: What are we doing
today?

Calculating the thickness of aluminum
foil.

To do that we have to learn a couple
formulas.

You should know how to measure the
area of the foil, but we just need the
third dimension (height/thickness).
Before you can begin, how do
you do a lab?
Prelab—
(Write the answer)
1. What is the area of a rectangular piece of oak
whose length and width are 3.20 cm and 2.25
cm respectively?
Mass and density
2. If that piece of oak has a mass of 30.0 g and
a density of 0.710 g/cm3, what is its
volume?
Thickness of the piece of oak
3.
What formula do we use to calculate the
thickness of the piece of oak?
4. What makes this formula reliable? (What
is reliable?)
Your task:
Materials:
 A piece of aluminum foil
 A centimeter ruler
 A balance
 Density of Aluminum Foil: 2.70g/cm3
You will determine the thickness of a piece of
aluminum foil.
Write your lab
Write a hypothesis
 List materials
 Create a procedure
 Include a data table
 Write a conclusion. Five or more sentences.

What is Volume?
Volume: the amount of space matter takes up.
How do you calculate it?
V=L x W x H
How can I rewrite the formula?
You can rewrite the previous formula
(V=LxWxH)
Substitute T (thickness) for H (height).
V=L x W x T
What’s the formula for Area?
Area: A=LxW
Can you substitute area (A) in the volume
formula (V=LxWxH)?
V=A x T
If we are looking for thickness (T) how can
we rearrange the formula?
T=V/A
What’s another way to determine
volume?
We can use the density formula:
Density=mass/volume
D=m/V
Let’s rearrange
If you have D=m/V
Rewrite for V:
V=m/d
A1 Groups

Lab Stations
Station 1 Jimmy Nina Amanda Asia
Station 2 Aderopo Nick
Station 3 Jessica Austin Cody Patty
Station 4 Greg Deshane Christine Ryan
Station 5 Takiel Jawuan Isiah Raphael
Station 6 Deja Joie Autumn Nakia
Analysis
What is the thickness of Aluminum foil?
 Was you hypothesis correct or
incorrect? Why or why not?
 How does your data compare to other
groups?

Extension

Percent error
Exit Ticket
How do you determine the thickness of
an object if you are only given a
balance, the density, and a ruler?
 Why did we do this lab?
 What did you learn?
