Experiment No.

3
Density Determination

A LABORATORY REPORT

Presented to the Faculty of the

Department of Chemistry
College of Sciences and Mathematics
University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines

In Partial Fulfillment
of the requirements in
PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY 1 LABORATORY

JOANN H. JUSTINIANE

PHOEBE C. FONTILLAS
Member

July 14, 2017

 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Density () is the proportion of mass (m) to volume in an amount of material.

=

The unit of density can be expressed in g/cm 3 or g/mL. Density is an intensive property. An
intensive property is a physical quantity whose value does not depend on the amount of the substance
for which it is measured.

The density of an object is one of the most important and easily measured physical properties.
It is widely used to identify pure substances and to characterize and estimate the composition of
different kinds of mixtures. The density of a liquid is usually directly related to the solution's
concentration. Because the density of a liquid is easy to measure, this provides a convenient method
of determining the concentration. Densities are temperature dependent and its values are commonly
listed in reference tables with the temperature at which the density determination was made.

In this experiment, the density of a liquid will be determine using a certain method and the
relationship between the density and percentage of the sodium chloride solution will be determine.

1.2 Objectives of the Study

1. To establish the density-concentration relationship of the salt solution.

2. To determine the concentration of an unknown salt solution.
3. To know if a linear relationship exist between the concentration and density of salt solution.
 CHAPTER 2

METHODOLOGY

The volume of water was determined by, first, obtaining a pycnometer from the lab assistant.
Second, cleaning the glassware and rinsing it with a small amount of acetone. Third, weighing the dry
pycnometer. Fourth, determining the exact volume of the pycnometer by filling it fully with water. Fifth,
drying the sides of the pycnometer and weighing it. Sixth, measuring the temperature of water. Seventh,
calculating the volume of water using the unknown density of water located at the Appendix A.

The concentration of unknown salt solution was determined by, first, preparing 25 mL solutions of
NaCl in distilled water consisting of the following percentages by weight: 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%.
Second, weighing each solutions. Third, determining the densities of each solutions and recording the
temperature. Fourth, constructing a graph of the density of solutions versus the percentage of NaCl solution
and taking its equation of the line to calculate the concentration of unknown salt solution.
 CHAPTER 3

DATA AND CALCULATIONS

3.1 Raw Data

Table 1 Volume determination of water

Mass of pycnometer 19.7910 g
Mass of pycnometer + water 44.9029 g
Mass of water 25.1119 g
Temperature of water 28C
Density of water 0.996232 g/cm3

Table 2 Density determination of unknown liquid

Solutions (%) Mass of pycnometer + Temperature (C)
solution(g)
5 45.7459 28
10 46.5468 28
15 47.2367 28
20 48.1260 28
25 48.8591 28
Unknown 47.6117 28

3.2 Calculating the volume of water and density of unknown liquid

To calculate the volume of water in the pycnometer, use the equation below

=

where m = mass of water
V = volume of water

To calculate for the concentration of the unknown sodium chloride solution (NaCl), use the
equation of the line obtained from the graph of the density of each NaCl solution vs the percentage
of NaCl solution.

= +
where m = percentage of NaCl
X = slope of the line
b = y-intercept
3.3 Sample Calculations

25.1119 1
= = 3
= 25.21 3 = 25.21
0.996232 / 1 3

25.9549 1
5% = = 1.0295478 3
= 1.0295478
25.21 1 3

1.10356 0.9984
= = = 16.96% 17%
0.0062

3.4 Summary of results

Volume of water = 25.21 mL

Table 3. Results
Solutions (%) Mass of solution (g) Volume of water (ml) Experimental Density (g/cm3)
5 25.9549 25.21 1.02955
10 26.7558 25.21 1.06132
15 27.4457 25.21 1.08868
20 28.3350 25.21 1.12396
25 29.0681 25.21 1.15304
17 27.8207 25.21 1.10356
 CHAPTER 4

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

The density of a liquid in this experiment was determined using the pycnometer method. The
pycnometer method uses a pycnometer to determine the density of a solution. A pycnometer is a vessel of
precisely known volume. It measures the volume of a liquid while the analytical balance was used to
determine the mass of the pycnometer. The density of a liquid was determined by filling the pycnometer
with water and getting its mass that would be divided to the volume of water.

The liquid used in this experiment was sodium chloride (NaCl) solution. Sodium chloride is one of
the most important substances used in food industry especially as flavor enhancer and preservative agent.
It can also be involved in various other processes including drying, cooling, cryopreservation and others.
The proper use of sodium chloride solution implies a good knowledge of the behavior of its thermophysical
properties such as density, viscosity, heat capacity, entropy and others.

The density of sodium chloride was determined by dividing the mass of the solution in the
pycnometer to the volume of water. Table 3 shows the calculated densities of NaCl solutions in each
respective concentrations. The concentration of the unknown salt solution was determined by making a
graph of density vs percentage of NaCl solution and using the equation of the line to get the concentration.
The calculated concentration of the salt solution was 16.96% which was rounded off to 17%.

Figure 1. The graph of density vs percentage of NaCl solution

Density vs Percentage of NaCl solutions

1.16

1.14 y = 0.0062x + 0.9984

Density of NaCl solutions

1.12

1.1

1.08

1.06

1.04

1.02
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Percentage of NaCl solutions

Figure 1 shows that there is a linear relationship between the density and the percentage of NaCl
solution. It also shows that the density of the salt solution is directly proportional to the percentage of NaCl
solution.
 CHAPTER 5

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary

Density is used in many areas of application to designate certain properties of materials or

products. In conjunction with other information, the density of a material can provide some indication of
possible causes for alterations in product characteristics. Density determination is among the most often
used gravimetric procedures in laboratories. Density can indicate a change in the composition of a material,
or a defect in a product, such as a crack or a bubble in cast parts known as voids, for instance in sanitary
ceramics or in foundries in the iron and steel industries.

Conclusion

The density of a liquid can be determin by using different methods. In this experiment, the density
of sodium chloride (NaCl) was determined using the pycnometer method. The density of the unknown
sodium chloride solution was also determined by using the equation of the line that was obtained from Fig.
1. Figure 1 shows the linear relationship of the salt solution and density. The density is directly proportional
to the percentage of the sodium chloride solution.

Recommendation

The experimenter recommends to use different method such as the oscillation method, suspension
method, density gradient column and schlieren method. The oscillation method is widely use to determine
the density of homogenous liquids. The suspension method makes use of the Archimedean Principle in the
special case of suspension in which the densities of the liquid and the suspended solid are equal. The
density of the solid body can be determine by setting the density of the liquid so that the sample
bodynreaches a state of suspension. The density setting of the test liquid can also be achieved by mixing
two liquids different densities. With a density gradient column, two liquids of different densities are layered
in a glass tube so that over time, diffusion results in a vertical density gradient. Small solids of various
densities are then suspended at various heights, with each height indicating a particular density. In the
Sclieren method, the capillary tube will be filled with liquid and will be immersed in another liquid while
holding it horizontally. The liquid will only flow horizontally from the tube if the densities of the two liquids
are equal. If the density of the liquid flowing from the tube is lower or higher than that of the liquid in which
the tube is immersed, schlieren (streaks) will form, flowing upward in the former case and downward in the
latter. (Density, Manual of Weighing Application)
 APPENDIX A

A. Figure 1. Densities of water

B. Figure 2. Densities of salt solutions

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Micromeritics, Volume and Density Definitions and Determination Methods, January 31, 2006
2. Simion A.I., Grigoras C.G., Rosu A.M., Gavrila L., Mathematical modelling of density and viscosity
of NaCl aqueos solutions, 2014.
3. Density, Manual of Weighing Application