Question

In Archimedes’ Principle Lab:

Define density and mention that it will be determined for an object and matched to a table of densities to determine the material of the object.

Answer 1

Density of the material of an object is defined as the mass contained in the object in unit volume of the object or mass per unit volume is defined as the density of the material of the object. Density of an object is generally denoted as ''. The SI unit of mass is kg and for volume it is m^3, so, SI unit of density is kg/m^3 and cgs unit is g/cm^3.

For an object of mass 'm ' and volume 'V', density is given as, = m/V

Let the desity of the material of an unknown object is measured to be 7.874 g/cm^3. If we compare this value in the density table of different elements, we can easily identify the object to be made up of iron, because the density of iron is 7.847 g/cm^3.