Name: ____________________________ Lab Section: _____________

Date: ____________________________ Professor: _______________

CHEM 151— Density Lab handout

PERFORM ALL LAB PREPARATION ACTIVITIES ON THE COURSE BRIGHTSPACE SITE.
The PRE-LAB activities are due BEFORE the beginning of your lab session and are worth a
possible 5 points. You may need to read the description more than once or watch the pre-lab
videos/simulations more than once.

DUE: When completed, the handout including all supplemental materials should be turned in to
the locker for your lab session located on the third floor of Lilly Science Hall (LSH). This Lab
Assignment is due by 11:55 p.m. on the day following your lab session and is worth a possible
15 points.

The purpose of this lab experiment is to use a graphical method to experimentally determine
the density of two different materials: aluminum (a pure substance) and brass (a homogeneous
mixture or alloy) of copper and zinc. You will use Excel to prepare the graph, you CAN NOT use
Google Sheets for graphing.

An important physical property of a substance is density, defined as the mass per unit
volume. Density is commonly expressed in units of g/cm3 or g/mL. As part of the experiment
you will be measuring the mass and the volume of metal slugs. Instead of calculating the
density of each slug individually, you will prepare a graph to determine the density. The graph
will be mass v. volume, which means the mass, measured in grams, is on the y-axis and the
volume, measured in milliliters, is on the x-axis.

First, measure the volume of six aluminum slugs and six brass slugs. CHOOSE a wide variety of
slug SIZES. The volume can be determined by measuring the volume of water the metal slug
displaces in a graduated cylinder.

To measure the volume of water displaced by a metal slug, follow the following steps: PLACE a
rubber stopper in the bottom of a 50-mL graduated cylinder. Fill a BEAKER with water from the
normal sink faucet in the lab; we can use regular tap water for this experiment. Using your
beaker, FILL the graduated cylinder about half-full with tap water. MEASURE the
volume. Remember to correctly report the volume to the correct number of significant
figures according to the accuracy of the glassware you are using (you practiced this in last
week’s lab). A 50 mL graduated cylinder has graduations every 1 mL, so you should estimate
the next digit. This means that your reading could be something like 25.2 mL. If the meniscus
falls above the 25 mL mark, do not call this volume “25 mL” but estimate the volume to the
nearest 0.1 mL.

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GENTLY slide the slug into the water. MEASURE the new volume of the water and the slug. In
order to get an accurate volume, the metal slug must be completely submerged in the water
when it is added to the graduated cylinder. If it is not fully submerged, you must start over.

Safety: CAUTION: CAREFULLY slide the slug into the water, holding the graduated cylinder at
an angle so you don't break the glass! If glass breakage occurs, call your lab instructor/lab
assistant for help. DISPOSE OF GLASS ONLY in specially marked broken glass containers, not in
the regular wastepaper baskets!

The volume of the slug can be calculated by subtraction. MAKE NOTE of the accuracy (that is,
the appropriate number of significant figures) with which this value should be recorded in the
table you prepared in your lab notebook.

Do this for six slugs of aluminum and six slugs of brass (12 slugs total).

Dry each slug carefully and measure the mass using a top-loading balance to the nearest 0.01
gram. Record your mass data in the table prepared in your lab notebook.

Table 1: Mass and Volume Data for Aluminum Slugs

Sample Initial Water Volume Final Water Volume Volume of Metal Mass of
# (cm3) (cm3) (cm3) Metal (g)

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 Table 2: Mass and Volume Data for Brass Slugs

Sample Initial Water Volume Final Water Volume Volume of Metal Mass of
# (cm3) (cm3) (cm3) Metal (g)

Access your spreadsheet software (Microsoft Excel is recommended and available on university
computers, do NOT use Google Sheets). Enter your mass and volume data for aluminum in
separate columns. When you graph the data, Excel will automatically use the data in the first
column as the x-axis and the data in the second column will be the y-axis, so think carefully
about how you enter your data into Excel. Do the same for your mass and volume data for
brass.

CREATE A GRAPH of the relationship between mass and volume for each material. If you are
unfamiliar with preparing a graph on Excel, review the video on the CHEM 151 course site on
Brightspace. Final graphs should have a title and labeled axes as well as a best-fit line equation
("linear trendline" in Excel) through the data points. Include the equation for the trendline and
the value of R2 on the graph. Be sure that your graph represents the density of the material.

COPY YOUR DATA FILE to your personal USB drive. You are responsible for your own data and
your own graphs.

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Complete the following questions. Be clear and complete in your responses.

1. What error would occur if a student did not completely submerge one of the metal slugs
when measuring the volume? How would this error in measurement affect the graphically
determined value of density compared to the actual value of density for the material? Explain
why this is the effect on the determined density.

2. A graphical analysis of a relationship provides better accuracy than taking individual

measurements, even when the individual measurements are averaged together. Using the
information you find ON YOUR GRAPH FROM THIS LAB ACTIVITY, what is the density of
aluminum? (Be sure to include correct units and with appropriate significant figures.)

From your GRAPH FROM THIS LAB ACTIVITY for brass samples, what is the density of brass
(including units and appropriate significant figures)?

3. Rewrite the equation for the trendline from your graph of aluminum slugs including the
correct UNITS for the slope and the y-intercept (‘b’-value). Be sure to use the appropriate
number of significant figures in your equation.

4. Following procedures and making careful measurements are important aspects of laboratory
work. In this lab, we expect the data you obtained to fit a linear (straight line) model. The value
of R2 of each graph is a way to assess your ability to follow procedures and to take careful
measurements. Record here the value of R2 you obtained for each of your graphs. (Copy the
values from your graph here. We will not discuss appropriate accuracy for R2 in this course.)

Aluminum Density R2___________ Brass Density R2_____________

5. Do the above R2 values represent good laboratory effort? Comment on your laboratory
procedure.

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In Lab 1, we calculated percent error. In the percent error equation, the best known (or
generally accepted) value of a quantity is sometimes called a ‘theoretical’ quantity.

𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙−𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑
𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = | | 𝑥100
𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙

6. Calculate the percent error for your graphically- determined (measured) density of
aluminum. Show your work clearly, and report your answer to the correct number of significant
figures.

7. Brass is an alloy consisting of approximately 80. % copper and 20. % zinc by mass. The density
of copper is 8.96 g/cm3and the density of zinc is 7.14 g/cm3.Based on this information, calculate
the theoretical density of brass. Show all of your work clearly in the space below the note.
NOTE: because brass is not composed of equal amounts of copper and zinc, taking a simple
average of the densities of these two metals is NOT APPROPRIATE. Because there is more
copper in the mixture, the density of the mixture will be closer to that of copper, and not as
close to that of zinc. If you continue to have difficulties, ask your instructor, teaching assistant
or a tutor.

8. Calculate the percent error for your graphically- determined (measured) density of brass,
using the results of your calculations in Question 8 as your theoretical value. Show your work
clearly, and report your answer to the appropriate number of significant figures.