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Food Science 10



Unit 1: The Food Science Lab


Lab #3: Relationship between Mass and Volume
October 2015

Name: Anon 1003

Nickname: Non

Introduction: There is a relationship between the mass and the volume of an object of a specific material. The mass can be
determined using an electric balance to record its weight in grams. The volume of an object can be determined by
calculating the amount of water displaced in a graduated cylinder when the object is placed into water. By determining the
mass and volume of an object of a specific material, you can find its density. In this lab experiment you will be discovering
how to determine the density of an object using graphs and mathematical equations, instead of simply searching for the
formula for density on the internet.

Purpose: To see how mass and volume are related to determine density by experimental data. To demonstrate how graphs
can connect ideas from Science and Math.
Materials:
Electronic Balance
50-mL Graduated Cylinder
4 Sample of the Same Material (3 Materials)
Water
Ruler
Procedure:
1. Obtain three different types of material for your group. Each material has 4 sample sizes.
2. Find the mass of each of the sample sizes. Record in your data table.
3. Find the volume of each of the sample sizes by determining the amount of water displaced by the object.
a. Set up a graduated cylinder and put 25 mL of water into it. Read the volume and write it down.
b. Tip the graduated cylinder and gently slide one of the objects into it. DO NOT allow water to splash out.
c. If the object floats, gently push it down with a pencil, until it is submerged under the water. Do not push too hard.
d. Record the new volume of the water. Subtract the volume of the water from the combined volume of the water
and object together. The result is the volume of the object. Record in your data table.
Data Table:

Title: ___Mass and Volumes of Various Objects of Various Sizes

Type of Material

Smallest Sample

Mass
Volume

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) 6.66 g
4.9 mL

Small Sample

Medium Sample

Large Sample

Mass VVolume
olume

Mass VVolume
olume

Mass Volume

10.95 g

8.0 mL

15.26 g

11.0 mL

19.19 g

14 mL

Maple [light-tanned]

5.0 mL

6.12 g

7.0 mL

8.58 g

11.0 mL

10.72 g

13 mL

5.0 mL

9.01 g

8.0 mL

12.36 g

10.2 mL

15.85 g

14 mL

Acrylic [Green]

3.94 g

5.57 g





Graph #1 Title: Polyvinyl chloride (purple) PVC
21
20
19
18
17
16
15

14
13

Mass (g)

12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4

3
2
1
0
0

Volume (mL)

10

11

12

13

14

15



Graph #2 Title: Maple

Maple
12.00

11.00

10.00

9.00

B (10,8)

8.00

Mass (g)

7.00

6.00

5.00

A (5, 4)
4.00

3.00

2.00

1.00

0.00
0

10

11

12

13

14

Volume (mL)



Graph #3 Title: _Acrylic_

Acrylic
17.00
16.00

B (13,14.8)
15.00
14.00
13.00
12.00
11.00

Mass (g)

10.00
9.00

8.00
7.00
6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

11.0

12.0

13.0

14.0

15.0

Volume (mL)






Discussion (Analyzing Results) Questions:
1. Find the slope of the graphed line from the data for the first material _Polyvinyl chloride. Follow these steps:
a. Mark two points on the line, and label them A and B. The points should be on the line and far apart. Try to
choose points that will make it easy to read the volume and mass measurements.
b. Point A corresponds to a volume of _2 mL, and a mass of 3 g.
Point B corresponds to a volume of _10 mL, and a mass of 14 g.
c. Use your answers from part b above to calculate the rise and run:
Rise = _________14 g_____ minus ______3 g____________ = _______11 g__________.
Run = _____10 mL_________ minus ____2 mL__________ = ______8 mL_________.
(Did you remember to include the units of measurement in your work above?)
d. Now calculate the slope:
Slope = rise divided by run = _________11/8=1.375 g/mL____________.
2. Find the slope of the graphed line from the data for the second material __Maple____. Follow these steps:
a. Mark two points on the line, and label them A and B. The points should be on the line and far apart. Try to
choose points that will make it easy to read the volume and mass measurements.
b. Point A corresponds to a volume of ___5 ml_______, and a mass of _____4 g_______.
Point B corresponds to a volume of ____10 ml________, and a mass of _8 g_______.
c. Use your answers from part b above to calculate the rise and run:
Rise = ________8 g_______ minus __________4 g________ = _______4 g__________.
Run = ________10 ml_________ minus ____5 ml_______ = _______5 ml______.
(Did you remember to include the units of measurement in your work above?)
d. Now calculate the slope:
Slope = rise divided by run = _____0.8 g/ml__________.
3. Find the slope of the graphed line from the data for the third material ___Acrylic____. Follow these steps:
a. Mark two points on the line, and label them A and B. The points should be on the line and far apart. Try to
choose points that will make it easy to read the volume and mass measurements.
b. Point A corresponds to a volume of ____7 mL_____, and a mass of _____8 g_________.
Point B corresponds to a volume of _____13 mL_____, and a mass of _____14.8 g______.
c. Use your answers from part b above to calculate the rise and run:
Rise = _____14.8 g______ minus _______8 g__________ = ______6.8 g_________.
Run = _______13 mL_________ minus ____7 mL_______ = ___6 mL________.
(Did you remember to include the units of measurement in your work above?)
d. Now calculate the slope:
Slope = rise divided by run = ____1.13 g/mL________.

Note: All parts of a straight line have the same, constant slope. When a mathematical constant is discovered as the
result of scientific experiments, it is often given a name. The slope you have just calculated is called the density of that
material.

4. In your answers to question 1, the rise corresponds to ____mass____ of the material, while the run corresponds to the
__volume______ of the material. This leads to the formula for density, which is ______rise divided by run or mass
divided by volume_________.

5. Research the actual density for each of your materials. Determine your accuracy.
I was pretty darn close because for the first one (PVC), I was off by only 0.005 g/ml. The second one, Maple, I was off by
0.03 g/mL as the actual was 0.77 g/ml and I wrote 0.8 g/ml. The third one, Acrylic, I was off by 0.04 g/ml.

Conclusion:

In this lesson we learned about how mass, volume, and density are related. We learned how to find
the density using the slope in a mass over volume graph. Putting the mass on the y-axis and the
volume on the x-axis. Draw a line of best fit, meaning a line that best goes through all the data. We
would then find the slope using two points on the line of best fit and then do rise (mass) over run
(Volume). The possible error factors are the air and reflections in the meniscus when looking at
graduated cylinder for the volume. Also the massing balance might have been off due to inaccurate
taring or us pressing on the table it was on. Overall, I got a pretty accurate reading.