1

Experiment 5: Relative Density

Joe Mari Isabella Caringal, Rowena Chiang, Khrista Maria Evangelista,
Berthrand Martin Fajardo

Department of Biological Sciences

College of Science, University of Santo Tomas
Espaa, Manila, Philippines

Abstract
In the first activity of the experiment, the composition of an alloy was determined based
on its density using the displacement method. The volume and density of the steel column were
6.5 cc and 7.59 g/cc, respectively. The computed percent error by density of the steel column was
3.44%. For the second activity, the density of a bone was determined by Archimedes Principle
and the obtained value for the density of the bone for this experiment is 1.5 g/cc. The relative
density was computed as well and the result was 1.5. Based on this result, the finding was
considered as osteopenia, which means that the bone has low bone mass. In the last activity, the
density of regular Coke, Coke zero, and Coke lite was determined using pycnometer and the
obtained results were 0.9512 g/cc, 0.9374 g/cc, and 0.9102 g/cc, respectively. The relative
density of the three liquid samples was also computed and the results were 0.9512, 0.9374, and
0.0102, respectively.

1. Introduction
Relative density is defined as the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a
standard or reference material. Specific density, on the other hand, refers to the relative density
with respect to water. Both relative density (RD) and specific density (SD) are dimensionless
quantities since they are just ratios of densities. Relative density can be helpful in measuring the
buoyancy of a substance in a fluid and in determining the density of an unknown substance from
the known density of the other substance. Relative density is commonly applied in geology and
mineralogy, wherein the mineral content of a sample is determined by getting its density with
respect to reference material. Normally, water is assumed to be the reference material if the
standard is not stated. [5]

Archimedes principle states that a wholly or partially immersed object in a fluid is

buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces; a floating body sinks until it
has displaced a volume of water that is equal to its weight. This principle had its origin while

Archimedes was at a public bath. He was tasked to find out if King Hiero IIs crown was made of
pure gold. He noticed that the water overflowed when he stepped into his bath and thats when he
concluded that a body immersed in water must displace a volume of water that is equal to the
volume of the object. Archimedes was very ecstatic that he rushed into the street butt naked
crying Eureka! Archimedes Principle has a great significance in shipbuilding and mining. [6]
This experiment aims to

determine the composition of a substance based on its density

determine the density of a liquid by using a pycnometer

determine the density of a substance by Archimedes Principle

2. Theory
The mass

density or density of

material

is

its mass per

unit volume.

Mathematically, density is defined as mass divided by volume [3]:

where is the density, m is the mass, and V is the volume. In some cases (for instance, in the
United States oil and gas industry), density is also defined as its weight per unit volume,
[4] although this quantity is more properly called specific weight.
Different materials usually have different densities, and density may be relevant
to buoyancy, purity and packaging. Less dense fluids float on more dense fluids if they do not
mix. This concept can be extended, with some care, to less dense solids floating on more dense
fluids. If the average density (including any air below the waterline) of an object is less than
water it will float in water and if it is more than water it will sink in water.
The reciprocal of the density of a substance is occasionally called its specific volume, a
term sometimes used in thermodynamics. Density is an intensive propertyin that increasing the
amount of a substance does not increase its density; rather it increases its mass.

Relative density, or specific gravity, is the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of
a substance to the density of a given reference material [1]. Specific gravity usually means
relative density with respect to water. The term "relative density" is often preferred in modern
scientific usage [2].
If a substance's relative density is less than one then it is less dense than the reference; if
greater than 1 then it is denser than the reference. If the relative density is exactly 1 then the
densities are equal; that is, equal volumes of the two substances have the same mass. If the
reference material is water then a substance with a relative density (or specific gravity) less than
1 will float in water. For example, an ice cube, with a relative density of about 0.91, will float. A
substance with a relative density greater than 1 will sink.
Relative density (RD) or specific gravity (SG) is a dimensionless quantity, as it is the
ratio of either densities or weights

where RD is relative density, substance is the density of the substance being measured,
and reference is the density of the reference. (By convention , the Greek letter rho, denotes
density.)
The reference material can be indicated using subscripts: RDsubstance/reference, which means
"the relative density of substance with respect to reference". If the reference is not explicitly
stated then it is normally assumed to be water at 4 C (or, more precisely, 3.98 C, which is the
temperature at which water reaches its maximum density). In SI units, the density of water is
(approximately) 1000 kg/m3 or 1 g/cm3, which makes relative density calculations particularly
convenient: the density of the object only needs to be divided by 1000 or 1, depending on the
units.

3. Methodology
Materials

Figure 1. A

pycnometer used in determining

the density of a liquid. [2]

A pycnometer which is also called pyknometer or specific gravity bottle, is a device used
to determine the density of a liquid. A pycnometer is usually made of glass, with a close-fitting
ground glass stopper with a capillary tube through it, so that air bubbles may escape from the
apparatus. This device enables a liquid's density to be measured accurately by reference to an
appropriate working fluid, such as water or mercury, using an analytical balance. If the flask is
weighed empty, full of water, and full of a liquid whose specific gravity is desired, the specific
gravity of the liquid can easily be calculated [2].
Procedure
This experiment consists of three different activities which demonstrated relative density.
The first activity is shown through displacement method. A steel cylinder was weighed using the
electronic gram balance. Water was placed in a graduated cylinder and its initial level was noted.
After noting the initial level, the steel cylinder was placed into the graduated cylinder. The new
volume of the water in the graduated cylinder was then noted. The volume and the density of the
steel cylinder was then determined. The percent composition by weight of the icon was then also
determined. The obtained value was then compared to the theoretical value
In the second activity, the density of a bone was measured. Firstly, the bones mass in air
was measured and noted. A piece of thread was attached to the bone, and together was immersed
to the water. Then the relative density and the actual density of the bone were computed.

The last activity is of comparisons. First, the weight of the an empty pycnometer, a
pycnometer filled with water, pynometer filled with regular soft drink, pycnometer filled with
lite soft drink, and pycnometer filled with coke zero were determined. The relative density and
actual density of each respective soft drinks were computed.

4. Results and Discussion

In the world of physics, Relative density plays a lot of role especially when dealing with
the weight of an object when It is in a water or when the object is at in liquid state. This concept
can be applied through our locally soft drinks that were usually drink, buoyancy of a boat in a
water and of course to know the density of a specific object. Relative Density is the ratio of the
density of a substance to the density of a standard substance under specified conditions. On the
recent experiment that were done by the students there is a principle that is used as a technique to
find the density of an object and that principle is the Archimedes principle. Archimedes principle
is principle that states that a body immersed in a fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight
of the displaced fluid. Also, this principle uses a specific equation to find the exact density of an
object.

In the activity that were done by the students, first they where task to find the
displacement method of alloy by weighing a steel using the Archimedes principle. Based on the
data they gathered in the table:
Weight of the steel (g)
Initial level of water(cc)
Final level of water(cc)
Volume of steel (cc)
Density of steel (g/cc)
Experimental percent by weight copper

44.33g
50.00cc
56.5ml
6.5ml
7.59g/cc
3.44%

They were able to find the density by the weight of the steel which is 44.33g to the
volume of the steel which 6.5ml in order to come up with a density of 7.59g/cc. Percent error is
also computed by subtracting the sample size and the experimental size divided by the sample
size in order to come up with 3.44% error in the data.
In the second activity that were done again by the students, they were now task to find the
density and condition of the bone whether it is has osteoperia when its density is below the mean
bone density using again the Archimedes principle. Based on the data they gathered and some
observation:
Weight of the bone in air(g)
Weight of the bone in water(g)
Relative density of bone
Density of bone
Finding

60.0g
20.0g
1.5
1.5g/cc
Osteoperia

By dividing the weight of the bone that is weigh to the air which is 60.0g to the weight of
the weight of the bone what is weigh to the water which is 20.0g subtracted to the weight of the
bone that is weigh to the air which is 60.0g to come up witch 1.5g/cc. And based on the
standards, a bone which is an osteoperia is within 1.0 to 2.5, meaning the condition of the bone is
osteoperia.
On the last experiment, they were task to find the relative density and the density of a
regular coke versus the diet soft drinks and the coke zero which were used as a variable in the
experiment. Also in this experiment, pycnometer is used to obtain accurate measurements of
density. Based on the data they were gathered:
Weight of the empty pycnometer(g)
Weight of pycnometer filled with water(g)
Weight of pycnometer filled with regular soft

20.39g
45.00g
43.80

drink (g)
Weight of pycnometer filled with diet soft

43.46g

drink (g)
Relative density of regular soft drink

0.9512

Density of regular soft drink(g/cc)

Relative density of diet soft drink
Density of diet soft drink(g/cc)

0.9512g/cc
0.9374
0.9374g/cc

The results able to show us that the regular soft drink is denser than the diet coke simple
because there is more sugar components compare to the two kind of soft drinks that were used.

5. Conclusion
The experiment done shows a variety of ways to know the density of a specific object
whether it be a steel, bone, a diet coke, or a regular coke. The first way is to measure via weight
and immersion in water as done with steel. The second way is to use the weight in air and the
weight when immersed in water just like what was done with the bone. After this method, even
the condition of the bone was determined by the experimenter. Lastly, the pycnometer was
utilized to compare the densities of the types of soft drinks people commonly drink.
The first method obtained the density of the steel which is 7.59g/cc which is relatively
denser than the other three compounds used by the other groups. The second method which
obtained the density of the bone enables the group to know the deficiency of the bone. The group
found out that it has osteoperia. On the last method, the regular soft drink gave the highest
density because its sugar components are also the highest among the other drinks used.
6. Applications
1.

How can you distinguish Fools Gold from pure gold?

Archimedes principle tells us that the weight of an object submerged in a liquid decreases by an
amount equal to the weight of the volume of liquid displaced after submerging the object. Also,
the density of gold equals 19.32 g/cc which is a fairly large value for density. Consequently, pure
gold will occupy less space when immersed in water compared to the fools gold. Therefore to
find out if two unidentified samples are each made from pure gold or not, they are immersed in a
container filled with water to the brim and compare the water displaced in each. The lesser the
displaced water, the more chance that the object submerged in it is pure gold. [7]

2. The solid samples used in the experiment are denser than water. How will you determine
the density of a solid that is less dense than water? Explain the formula that you will use.
The easiest thing to do when determining the density of a solid less dense than water is to
submerge it in a graduated cylinder filled with known amount of water and to measure the
displaced liquid. The displacement equals the buoyant force acting on the solid. Substituting this
value as the mass in the equation = m/v, the density can be computed.
3. The suitability of a person to donate blood may be tested by placing a drop of blood in a
saline solution of density 1.03g/cc. Is he a suitable donor if the drop of blood sinks?
Explain your answer.
Bloods normal density is 1.06g/cc causing it to sink in the solution. This also means that the
density of the saline solution, 1.03g/cc, is near the density of the blood making the person having
the blood a suitable donor.
4. What is the meaning of the expression tip of the iceberg? Is there a physical basis for
this?
The tip of the iceberg, in common terms, means that only a small part of what is seen
constitutes a bigger problem. The physical basis to this denotes that only a small part is relatively
visible whereas the larger part is hidden underneath. As in the case of ice floating on water, 92%
of it would be sinking while the other 8% would be floating or visible above the water. The
reason why ice floats is because it has a lower density of 0.92g/cc compared with liquid water of
density 1.00g/cc. [8]
5. Normal relative density of urine is 1.015 1.030. What might be said if during urinalysis,
a specific gravity higher than normal is obtained?
Urine specific gravity is the measurement of the density of urine compared to pure water. When
this exceeds the normal relative density of urine, relative dehydration is observed. This indicates
that there is an increase in the effective osmotic pressure present in body fluids.

7. References
[1] Dana, Edward Salisbury (1922). A text-book of mineralogy: with an extended treatise on
crystallography New York, London(Chapman Hall): John Wiley and Sons. pp. 195200, 316.

[2] Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated. pp. 111,142,144,147,109,155,157,160,175

[3] "Density definition in Oil Gas Glossary"
[4] DIN51 757 (04.1994): Testing of mineral oils and related materials; determination of density
[5] retrieved from
http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Relative_density.html
[6] retrieved from http://history.howstuffworks.com/ancient-greece/archimedes.htm
[7] retrieved from http://www.itsnotmagicitsscience.com/science.asp?newsid=381
[8] retrieved from http://labmathandscience.businesscatalyst.com/unit-3-density.html
[9] Cutnell JD & Johnson KW. Introduction to physics (9thed.). John Wiley and Sons; 2013.