Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________________________
Student Exploration: Density via Comparison
Vocabulary: density, mass, volume
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using
the Gizmo.)
The image at right shows a man floating in the Dead
Sea, an extremely salty lake that lies between Israel and
Jordan.
1. Why do you think the man is floating so high in the
water? Just a normal dude floating in the water
reading a newspaper
2. What might happen if this man tried to read the newspaper while floating in a normal pool?
The same thing maybe
Gizmo Warm-up
Whether an object floats or sinks in a fluid depends on the
density—or mass per unit of volume—of the object as well
as the density of the fluid. The Density via Comparison
Gizmo allows you to compare objects by placing them in
fluids of differing densities.
1. Place object A into Beaker 2, which contains a liquid
with a density of 1 g/mL, equal to the density of water.
A. What happens? The ball went all the way down
B. Is object A more or less dense than water? Explain how you know Is more dense
because simple it sinks all the way down in the water
2. Now drop object B into Beaker 2. Describe what happens and explain what that tells you
about the density of object B. _It contains less density than water because started floating
instead of sinking________________________________________________
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Activity: Get the Gizmo ready:
Estimating Double-click on the shelf to return all objects to the
density shelf.
Question: How do you estimate the density of an object without measuring its mass or
volume?
1. Observe: Drag object A into Beaker 1. If it sinks, move it into beakers 2, 3, and so on until it
floats.
A. What is the highest-density fluid in which object A sinks?
0.5______________________
B. What is the lowest-density fluid in which object A floats?
2.5______________________
C. Based on the previous two answers, what can you say about the density of object A?
(Note: The density of a solid is measured in g/cm3, which are equivalent to g/mL.)
That is greater than 0.5 all the way up to 2.5
2. Gather data: Drag each object into all of the beakers. Write “floats” or “sinks” in each space
in the table below. In the last column, estimate the density of each object.
Beaker 1 Beaker 2 Beaker 3 Beaker 4 Estimated
Object
(0.5 g/mL) (1 g/mL) (1.5 g/mL) (2.5 g/mL) density
B Sinks float Float Float 1g
C Sink Sink Float float 1.5g
D Sink Sink Float Float 1.5
E Sink Float Float Float 2.0g
F Float Float Float Float 1.8g
3. Analyze: Drag objects B and E into Beaker 2. Which object is denser? Both objects would
have the same density
Explain how you know because is simple both objects float instead of sinking
4. Challenge yourself: Describe how you know which object is denser in each situation.
A. Objects A and B are placed in Beaker 1: Object A because it sinks faster
B. Objects A and B are placed in Beaker 4: A because it sinks while B floats
2019
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