Experiment Name: Density Column Lab

• The purpose of this experiment is to determine the densities of various solutions by calculating the mass and volume of each liquid.

• Hypothesis • From a list of known

solutions, predict which solution will have the highest density and which solution will have the lowest density. – Distilled water– Liquid soap– Vegetable oil– Rubbing alcohol– Karo syrup (light corn syrup

made from vanilla)

Example: I hypothesize that water is the densest among all liquids.

Density Column Lab

• B.1-B.3 – Found on page 26-29 in your book. • Please write down the definitions of the

following words:– Matter, physical properties, density, aqueous

solution, mixture, heterogeneous mixture, suspension, colloid, homogeneous mixture, solutions, solute and solvent.

Density Column Lab

• Make a list of predicted densities– For example:

Lowest Density1. Liquid Soap

2. Rubbing alcohol3. Vegetable oil

4. Water5. Karo syrup

Highest Density

Data Table

Liquid Name Color of Liquid Mass of Liquid Volume of Liquid

Density of Liquid

Mass of the graduated cylinders = _________________________________________

Procedure

• 1. Slowly pour a small amount of the Karo syrup in the test tube. Allow the liquid to move to the bottom of the test tube.

• 2. Slowly pour the remaining liquid in the following order: dish soap, water, vegetable oil and rubbing alcohol.

• 3. Record the contents of the test tube in your lab manual, noting the order in the test tube.

• 4. Obtain (2) graduated cylinders and mass them both using a balance.

• 5 Using a pipette, extract the uppermost liquid and place it in one of the graduated cylinders.

Procedure

• 6. Mass the graduated cylinder with the liquid to determine the mass of the liquid and record the mass and the volume in the data table.

• 7. Wash out the graduated cylinder and repeat steps 5-6 until all the liquid is massed and volumes are recorded.

• 8. Wash the test tube and the graduated cylinder before you leave.

• 9. Calculate the density of each liquid using the formula Density = Mass/Volume