SolidWorks Lesson
Faculty Member Name: M. Yakubovsky Date: 3/12/09
Organization: Coppell High School
Title of Lesson/Unit: Density of various materials
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) STEM Concepts Addressed: This
lesson develops the density of several different materials and different shapes. Density
is calculated from dividing the object’s mass by its volume. Students will see that the
mass of the material always remains the same, but the volume can change by changing
the arrangement and shape.
Length of instruction period: 30 minutes
How many periods needed to implement lesson unit: 1
Grade Level(s) for use: all
Objectives:
1. Understand the relationship between volume and density.
2. Calculate volume of objects.
3. Calculate density of objects.
Materials: SolidWorks, paper and pencil.
Procedures:
 Create a plate 10cm x 10cm x 1cm. Save the piece as “model.sldprt”
 Right-click “material” in the Feature Manager Design Tree. Select “edit material”.
Under plastics, choose ABS. Select OK.
 Under “file”, select “save as”. Save this new plate as “abs_plate.sldprt”.
 Calculate the volume of the plate. (Length x width x height)
 Select Tools, Mass Properties. Find the density calculation for the abs_plate.
 Calculate density (mass/volume) [g/cm3]
 The density of plain water is 1.00 g/cm3. For an object to float in plain water, the
object must have a lower density than plain water. Will the plate made of ABS
plastic float in plain water?
 Select “file”, and then “save as” to save this plate again. Name the new file
“steel_plate.sldprt”.
 Right-click “material” in the Feature Manager Design Tree. Select “edit material”.
Under steel, choose plain carbon steel. Select OK.
 Find the volume, mass, and density of the steel plate. Will this float in plain
water?
 The density of ocean water (salt water) is 1.027 g/cm3. Will either plate float in
the ocean?
 Close steel_plate.sldprt.
 Open a new assembly.
 Insert 6 copies of abs_plate. Mate each plate to the others along their largest
face to create a single plate that is 10cm x 10cm x 6cm. Save this assembly as
abs_assembly1.sldasm.
 Calculate volume, mass, and density for this plate. Will it float in either plain
water or salt water?
 Do the same thing for the steel_plate. Name it steel_assembly.sldasm. Will it
float in plain water or salt water?
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Open a new assembly. Mate the six abs_plates together to create one hollow
plate. Don’t worry that not all sides line up exactly.
Measure the length, width, and height of the entire assembly. For this exercise, it
is not important that the sides do not all line up exactly and there is a 1cm x 1cm
space along some sides. Treat the assembly as if all sides ended flush.
Calculate the volume, mass and density of the entire assembly. Will this
assembly float in either plain or salt water? Do the same thing with the
steel_plate.
Why did the density change so much this time?
Reopen the steel_plate part. Change the thickness of the plate from 1cm to
1mm. Save it at thin_steel_plate.
Notice that the density is still the same as the 1cm thick plate. Why?
Create a hollow cube with the thin_steel_plate pieces. Will this plate float?
Assessment:
On their own, have students create 2 plates with 10cm by 10cm by 1cm. One plate is
made of ABS plastic. The other plate is plain carbon steel. Calculate the total volume
and density of the plates. The students will create several blocks with the plates. They
will calculate volume and density of the blocks. How does the density of the block
change with configuration of the plates? How does this change in density affect the
block?
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Resources Used: N/A
Copyrighted Materials: N/A