Jonathan Kirk

Period 6

8/11/04

Density of Metals

Purpose: The purpose of this experiment was to determine the density of copper, lead, zinc, and aluminum by first finding the mass and volume as employing mathematical procedure.

Materials:

• Metals: zinc, copper, aluminum, and lead

• Writing utensil

• Lab notebook

• Water

• Electronic balance

• Graduated cylinder

• Celsius thermometer

• Ruler

Procedure:

1. Determine mass of each metal using the electronic balance.

2. Determine volume of each shape by using water displacement in graduated cylinder.

3. Repeat above procedure to obtain average density and record data.

4. Determine density of each by using Density= Mass/Volume.

5. Compare obtained values established, calculate percent error. Record the average density. Note percent error= accepted value – obtained value x100/accepted value

6. Repeat above procedure using linear measurements to calculate volume. Record data.

Data:

The variations in the experiment revolved mainly around the metals, as we kept a constant room temperature and used the same methods of finding mass and volume each time. All the metals were different sizes, yet approximately the same weight. The lead, for it's size seemed to the the heaviest, and most dense, while the aluminum was the lightest and least dense.

Calculations:

1. Density= Mass/Volume. Ex) M=10 V=5 10/5=2 Density is 2

2. Volume of Cylinder= Pi r^2 h Ex) r=6, h=3 3.14x6^2x3

3. Percent Error= Accepted values-obtained values/accepted values x100

   Ex) AV= 10 OV=5 10-5/10 x100

Conclusion:

This lab was done to determine which sample of metal was the densest out of the others by measuring mass and volume. The result was that the aluminum had the largest density because of it's size, but the lead was the smallest and still very dense, so was the densest of all the metals. Errors range from: dripping water out of the graduated cylinder when the metal cylinders were removed. Thus the amount of water to be displaced may have differed slightly between metals. Another source of error may have been that the graduated cylinder was somewhat off center, or the table wasn't perfectly straight, thereby upsetting the reading we got from water displacement.