de Castro, Krystel Iris M.

Experiment 1: The Density of Beverages

10H
August 15, 2016

Abstract
This experiment was designed to acquaint students with the use of various
instruments and glassware in measuring a liquids mass and volume and to compare
the level of precision and accuracy of the data gathered. It is divided into two parts.
Part A used three types of volumetric glassware: graduated cylinder, pipet, and buret
with initial volumes of 0 mL. The mass of the water was measured under three trials,
with 10mL of water added to the container every time. The same procedure was
done in Part B for four sucrose solutions of different concentrations and two
unknown soda samples. Results showed that the buret exhibits the best precision
and accuracy, followed by the pipet and graduated cylinder respectively.
Furthermore, a linear relationship between density and percent by mass of a solution
was established. The higher the concentration, the higher would be the density.
Introduction
In science, the quality of data is described by precision and accuracy.
Precision refers to how reproducible a measurement is and can be viewed as the
spread of the measured data illustrated by standard deviation:

Equation 1.

s=

n ( x ix )
i=1

n1

Where:
is equal to each value in the data set
is the average or mean of
n is the number of samples/ trials

On the other hand, accuracy refers to how close a measured value is to the
actual or true value and is expressed in percent error:
Equation 2.
Measurements of the two most common quantities, mass and volume, are
obtained through the use of instruments and glassware with varying precision.
Density, a characteristic physical property of a substance, quantifies its mass per unit
volume as shown below:
Equation 3.
The higher the amount of solute dissolved in a solution, the greater would be
the solutions density. The concentration is more conveniently expressed in percent
by mass (% m/m), which in fact has a linear relationship with the density of the
solution.

Methods
The experiment is divided into two parts. In Part A, the density of water was
measured using three different types of volumetric glassware: graduated cylinder,
pipet, and buret. The mass of the water and container was determined by means of
a top loading balance. Each measurement was repeated thrice and recorded. In
each trial, 10mL of water was added to the container with an initial volume of 0 mL.
Simple statistical analyses of the three data sets were then carried out in Microsoft
Excel to show the precision and accuracy of measurements for each glassware.
In Part B, the densities of five standard sucrose solutions were measured with
varying concentrations. Each measurement was done in duplicate with the same
process as Part A. These two quantities were plotted in Microsoft Excel to construct
a calibration curve, which in turn was used to calculate the % (m/m) sucrose of two
unknown soda samples.
Results
Table 1. Data on Density of Distilled Water Using a Graduated Cylinder.
Trials
Total Volume (mL)
Total Mass (g)
Mass of Graduated cylinder (g)

Trial 1
10.0 0.5
132.40
123.07

Trial 2
20.0 0.5
141.49
123.07

Trial 3
30.0 0.5
151.32
123.07

Mass of Distilled Water (g)

Density (g/mL)

9.33000000000001
0.933

18.42
0.921

28.25
0.941667

Table 2. Data on Density of Distilled Water Using a Pipet.

Trials
Trial 1
Trial 2
Total Volume (mL)
10.00 0.05
20.00 0.05
Total Mass (g)
77.94
87.86
Mass of Beaker (g)
67.92
67.92
Mass of Distilled Water (g)
10.02
19.94
Density (g/mL)
1.002
0.997

Trial 3
30.00 0.05
97.84
67.92
29.92
0.997333

Table 3. Data on Density of Distilled Water Using a Buret.

Initial buret reading: 20.00
Trials

Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Buret Reading (mL)

Actual Volume (mL)
Total Mass (g)

30.00 0.05
10.00 0.05
77.90

40.00 0.05
20.00 0.05
87.80

50.00 0.05
30.00 0.05
97.79

Mass of Beaker (g)

67.92

67.92

67.92

Mass of Distilled Water (g)

9.98

19.88

29.87

Density (g/mL)

0.998

0.994

0.995667

Table 4. Precision and Accuracy of Measured Density.

Actual value of density of distilled water at (29 0.5) C : 0.995944 g/mL
Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Mean
Density
(g/mL)

0.933 0.05

0.921 0.05

0.941667 0.05

0.93

0.010378039

6.431598

1.002 0.05

0.997 0.05

0.997333 0.05

1.0

0.002795499

0.284532

0.998 0.05

0.994 0.05

0.995667 0.05

1.0

0.002009238

0.005534

Density (g/mL)
Graduated
Cylinder
Pipet
Buret

Standard
Deviation

% Error

Density of Distilled Water

Graduated Cylinder
Density (g/mL)

Pipet

Buret

Volumetric Glassware Used

Figure 1. Comparison on Measured Density of Distilled Water.

Table 5. Density of Standard Sucrose Solutions.
50-mL beaker mass: 67.92 g

Trial 1

10.00 0.05

Solution 1 (5%)
Total Mass of
Density
Mass solution
(g/mL)
(g)
(g)
77.99 10.07
1.007

Trial 2

20.00 0.05

88.1

Total Volume
(mL)

20.18

1.009

Total Volume
(mL)
10.00 0.05

Solution 2 (10%)
Total
Mass of
Density
Mass
solution
(g/mL)
(g)
(g)
78.48
10.56
1.056

20.00 0.05

88.82

Solution 3 (20%)

20.9

Mass of
solution (g)

Density
(g/mL)

78.61

10.69

1.069

10.00 0.05

Solution 4 (30%)
Mass of
Total
solution
Mass (g)
(g)
78.94
11.02

89.45

21.53

1.0765

20.00 0.05

89.89

Total
Volume(mL)

Total
Mass(g)

10.00 0.05
20.00 0.05

Total
Volume(mL)

21.97

1.045

Densit
y
(g/mL)
1.0985

1.102

Table 6. Density of Unknown Sucrose Solutions.

Trial 1

10.00 0.05

Unknown Solution 1
Total
Mass of
Density
Mass
solution
(g/mL)
(g)
(g)
78.29
10.37
1.037

Trial 2

2.000 0.05

88.60

Total Volume
(mL)

20.68

1.034

Total Volume
(mL)
10.00 0.05

Unknown Solution 2
Total Mass of
Density
Mass solution
(g/mL)
(g)
(g)
77.92 10.00
1.00

20.00 0.05

87.8

19.88

0.994

Table 7. Density and Concentration of Sucrose Solutions.

Density (g/mL)
Mean
Solutions
Density
Trial 1
Trial 2
Solution 1
1.007
1.009
1.008
Solution 2
1.056
1.045
1.0505
Solution 3
1.069
1.0765
1.07275
Solution 4
1.102
1.0985
1.10025
Unknown Solution 1
1.037
1.034
1.0355
Unknown Solution 2
1.006
1.008
1.007

% (m/m)
sugar
5
10
20
30
9.55882
1.17647

Density vs % Mass Sucrose of Standard Solutions

1.12
1.1

f(x) = 0x + 1
R = 0.92

1.08
1.06
Density (g/mL)

1.04
1.02
1
0.98
0.96

10

20

30

40

% Mass Sucrose

Figure 2. Density vs % Mass Sucrose of Standard Solutions.

Discussion
The three types of volumetric glassware were compared in terms of precision
and accuracy in Part A of the experiment. Before the densities were measured, the
temperature of the water was first ascertained. This is important because the
properties of water alter at different temperatures. Ice, for example, has a lower
density than pure water brought about by the expansion of molecules (AtQ 5). The
computations were based on 0.995944 g/mL as the accepted density of distilled
water at (29 0.5) C (2). Table 4 indicates the standard deviation and percent error
for each data set wherein the lowest values for both are clearly achieved by the
buret. This is further illustrated in Figure 1. The densities measured using the buret
are closest to each other and to 0.995944 g/mL, followed by the pipet above, and
then the graduated cylinder further below. Thus, we can infer that the buret exhibits
the best precision and accuracy (AtQ 1). The measurement of density using the
graduated cylinder was the least accurate, with 6 percentage points more than the
percent error generated by the pipet and the buret. Possible causes of error include
the inconsistency of the top loading balances used and poor measurement of the
volume due to more distanced calibrations (AtQ 2).

In Part B, Table 7 proves that the density of the solution increases together
with its concentration, making these quantities proportional to each other. Deriving
from Equation 1, mass is equal to the product of the density and volume, which is of
the form y=kx for proportional linear relationships. The variable k represents density,
the slope which correlates mass and volume. Since % (m/m) is essentially the mass
of the solute relative to 100g of solution, density and % (m/m) also share a linear
relationship (AtQ 6). This is visually represented by Figure 2 with the equation y =
0.0034x + 1.003. The value of R is 0.923 and as it approaches 1, the relationship
becomes more linear.
Using the equation, the % (m/m) sucrose of the two unknown samples was
calculated. The first unknown sample contains 9.56 % (m/m) sucrose, resulting to a
density of 1.03 g/mL, while the second only has 1.18 % (m/m) sucrose and a density
almost of pure water. Soda is one of the most common beverages with a high
sucrose content and it may be the identity of the first sample. However, the 1.007
g/mL-density of the second sample implies that a lighter sweetener was used, which
leads to the assumption that it is a diet soda (AtQ 4). Diet sodas usually contain
aspartame, an artificial sweetener, while regular sodas use sugar (2). Since
aspartame is much lighter, diet soda has a different density than that of sugarcontaining beverages (AtQ 3).
Sample Calculations
1. mass of solution= mass of container with solution - mass of empty container
2. density of each trial = mass of solution / volume of solution
3. mean density = sum of densities in each trial / number of trials
4. standard deviation (used Microsoft Excel)
5. % error = [|mean density CRC density of water| / CRC density of water]x100
Conclusion
It is therefore concluded from the first part of the experiment The Density of
Beverages that the buret is the most precise and accurate for measuring density
among the three instruments used. As shown in the calibration curve constructed for
the second part, there is a linear relationship between density and percent by mass
of a solution. The equation derived was used to identify the possible identities of the
two unknown beverages.
References
(1) Modern Experiments in General Chemistry I. Quezon City, Philippines:
Department of Chemistry, Ateneo de Manila University; 2016.
(2) David R. Lide. Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. 53rd ed. Florida: CRC Press;
2004.