Density Block Lab

7/20/15

Density Block Lab

Introduction:

      In this lab, a plastic block is being measured for the mass having limited measurements given to the tester. The testers were given the density and volume with only a ruler to find out the mass.

Procedure:

      The measurement needed was volume to complete the equation for Density which goes as shown below.

          To find the volume we measured all three properties of volume: length, width and height. Using the ruler we were able to make an accurate guess on what the real mass would be

     The given density was 0.960 and the dimensions for the plastic block was 10.1 (length), 5.3 (width), and 1.2 (height). Together multiplied became 64.236, thus allowing us to find the mass with this input.

M

           0.96            =       -----------------                                       



                                                                            64.236

      The resulting mass found was 61.7. Then it was moved to the scale to be measured and it was found to be 62.2.

      In the end there was a 0.804% error and the end result was very close to our predicted result.

Conclusion:

       The purpose of the lab was to determine the density from only the density and volume which was eventually attained through the measuring of the block. The ruler played a very crucial role in this lab, because it allowed us to investigate the lengths of the block width, length, and height. Through the discovery of the volume the mass was obtained. There might have been some mistake when it came to using the ruler to find the exact length and it may have altered the calculated mass closeness to the actual mass. In addition, the way the numbers rounded when multiplying the sides also would've affected the way the actual mass turned out. It was learned people aren't able to get the exact measure due to the tiny things beyond our sight, but I would recommend trying harder to attempt to spot the most accurate numbers possible.