Density Lab Design

Research Question: What is the density of: Copper, Silicon,

Aluminum, Zinc and Iron?

Hypothesis: I think by using the density formula we can find each

element’s density. I also think that iron is the element with the
highest density.

Variables: The independent variables are: aluminium, silicon, lead,

copper, zinc and iron, because they are the elements of which the
density is being identified.
The dependant variable is: the density, because it is what is obtained
with the experiment.

Materials:
• Zinc
• Iron
• Materials to record data (pencil, paper etc.)
• Balance
• Graduated Cylinder (250 ml)
• Water
• Copper
• Silicon
• Aluminum

Procedure:

1. Put the copper in the balance and measure it’s mass

2. Record your data
3. Put exactly 100 ml of water in the 250 ml graduated cylinder
4. Then put the copper carefully in the Graduated cylinder and
precisely measure the volume of the of the water in the
graduated cylinder
5. Find the difference between these two results and the volume
of silicon will be obtained.
6. Once again record your data
7. Divide the mass of silicon by the volume of silicon, and the
density will be obtained.
8. Repeat steps 1-7 for aluminium, lead, copper, zinc and iron.

Control of Variables:
The measuring equipment has to be sensitive. You have to check the
equipment befor you do the lab. For example to check the balance
befor you start to see if it’s zero or not. These little things will help
your result be more accurate. You also have to us the same scale and
graduated cylinder and always do the experiment at the same
temperature.
Safety Considerations: there are no big dangers in this lab because
we are only handling water and other common non dangerous
elements. Even so, no matter what lab your doing you should always
put safety goggles on.

Data Tables:

First Trail:

Material: Mass: (g) Volume: (ml) Density: (g/ml)

Copper 19.82 2.1 9.43
Silicon 3.01 3.9 0.77
Aluminum 4.21 4.1 1.02
Zinc 16.05 2.3 6.97
Lead 28.00 4.1 6.82
Iron 17..34 2.5 6.93

Second trail:

Material: Mass: (g) Volume: (ml) Density: (g/ml)

Copper 19.83 2.3 8.62
Silicon 2.98 3.3 0.90
Aluminum 4.22 4.3 0.98
Zinc 16.02 2.1 7.62
Lead 28.10 4.4 6.38
Iron 17.41 2.8 6.21

Third trail:

Material: Mass: (g) Volume: (ml) Density: (g/ml)

Copper 19.87 2.5 7.94
Silicon 3.03 4.0 0.75
Aluminum 4.24 4.6 0.92
Zinc 16.00 1.9 8.42
Lead 28.05 4.6 6.09
Iron 17.38 2.7 6.43

Average:

Material: Average Mass: Average Average

(g) Volume: (ml) Density: (g/ml)
Copper 19.84 2.3 8.66
Silicon 3.01 3.7 0.81
Aluminum 4.22 4.3 0.97
Zinc 16.02 2.1 7.67
Lead 28.05 4.4 6.43
Iron 17..37 2.7 6.53

Conclusion and Evaluation:

Conclusions:

After testing the density of 6 materials copper, silicon,

aluminium, zinc, lead and iron I can conclude that the one with more
density among these materials is copper. The one with less density is
silicon.
According the sources in the internet my results are fairly
precise. For example, according to the “Up Will Education Course”
copper has a density of 8.96 g/ml, my average density for copper was
8.669 g/ml. My measure for silicon is also fairly precise because the
sources in the internet state that the density of silicon is 0.98 g/ml
and my average was 0.811 g/ml.
I can conclude that my results are precise due to the fact that
sources in the internet have very similar results to the ones I obtained
with this experiment.

Limitations to the Conclusion:

I am confident on the precision of my results because I double

checked them with different sources in the internet.

Experimental Errors and Recommendations:

The probable errors that might have influenced my results are

all connected with the sensitivity of the measuring equipment,
therefore random errors. Using the scale and the graduated cylinders,
there is always an unknown digit, this digit is never exact. This is the
main factor that might of influenced my results, but still they were
very precise because I used extremely sensible measuring devices
which always contribute to the accuracy and precision of the results.
I would recommend the repetition of the experiment at least
three times and sensible devices since we are dealing with masses
and volumes of extremely small objects.