Making Measurements
Brandon Francom
Chemistry 105L
Abstract
Split into three parts, the first part of this experiment asked to determine the standard deviation
of different tools when measuring the volume of water. A graduated cylinder, a micro pipette, and
a pipette were used to measure out different amounts of water. The standard deviation of the
graduated cylinder was calculated to be 0.047, the standard deviation of the micro pipette was
0.0205, and the standard deviation of the pipette was 0.0250. In the next part, a micro pipette and
pipette were used to measure different volumes of ethanol, calculate the density of ethanol, and
compare it to the density of water. The calculated density of water was 0.9782 g/mL, and the
calculated density of ethanol was 0.7757 g/mL. In the last part, the effect of adding copper
sulfate to a 1mL sample of water was studied, and how the presence of the compound affected
the density of the solution. As larger amounts of copper sulfate were added, the density of the
solution grew. The density of the solution with .25 g of copper sulfate dissolved in 1mL of water
was 0.996 g/mL and the density of the solution with 1 g of copper sulfate dissolved in 1mL of
water was 1.032g/mL. Two more densities were also calculated that fell in line with the data
from the other two trials.
Introduction
This experiment, separated into three parts, included using different instruments to
measure and determine the mass of 1.0 mL of water, and then calculating the standard deviation
of each instrument to determine each instruments accuracy. Part B included using the most
accurate instrument from Part A to measure the mass and volume of 1, 2, 4, and 10 mL samples
of water to determine its density, and then repeating the procedure using ethanol instead of water,
and comparing their densities. Part C included making four 10 mL solutions of copper sulfate
and water, one with 1.0 grams of copper sulfate, one with .75 grams, one with .50 grams, and one
with .25 grams of copper sulfate, and then calculating and comparing the densities of each
solution.
The purpose of the experiment was to calculate the most accurate tool to measure a
specific volume, to determine if ethanol is more dense than water, and to see if decreasing the
amount of copper sulfate in a solution will increase or decrease the solutions density. Going in
to the experiment, my hypothesis was that the micro pipette would be the most accurate
instrument, that ethanol would be less dense than water, and that decreasing the amount of
copper sulfate in the solution would decrease the solutions overall density.
For the experiment, only one equation was utilized to calculate density:
Density = Mass/Volume
Materials
The following materials were used in one or more parts of the experiment:
- 1mL micro pipette
- 1mL, 5mL, and 10mL pipettes
- 50mL graduated cylinder
- 1mL volumetric flask
- electric balance
- distilled water
- ethanol
- sample of copper sulfate
- computer with excel program for graphing data and calculating averages and standard
deviations
Methods
For Part A of the experiment, 1mL of water was measured 4 separate times with three
different instruments, a pipette, micropipette, and graduated cylinder, and afterward the mass of
each trial was calculated. Afterward, the average of the four trials and the standard deviation
were calculated. The same procedure was repeated for a 4mL sample and 10mL sample, with the
exception being that instead of a micro pipette, a volumetric flask was used to measure the 10mL
sample of water.
For Part B, a 2mL sample of water was measured 4 times with a micro pipette and
weighed. Next, 1, 2, 4, and 10mL samples of Ethanol were measured four times, and the average
and standard deviation of each volume of ethanol was calculated. The 1mL and 2mL samples
were measured using a micro pipette, and the 4mL and 10mL samples were measured using a
pipette. The data from the water measurements were inputted into a graph and an equation with
its density was created, and the data from the ethanol measurements were also inputted into a
graph that measured its density.
For Part C, .25, .50, .75, and 1.0 gram samples of copper sulfate were measured, and then
each was mixed with 1mL of water in a volumetric flask, creating four separate solutions. The
mass of each solution was calculated using the balance, and the data was inputted into a graph
which was used to calculate the density of each individual solution.
Results
The masses of 1mL, 4mL, and 10mL samples of water
were calculated four times using different tools, and then
the averages and standard deviations were calculated.
1mL
Trial
1
Trial
2
Trial
1mL
Pipette
Graduated
Cylinder
1mL Micro
Pipette
0.931
1.009
1.01
0.958
0.959
0.907
0.936
1.003
0.973
The lowest standard deviation, or the
most accurate instrument used was
0.02054, with the 1mL micro pipette.
With the 4mL trials, the lowest standard
deviation, was found to be with the 5mL
Pipette as 0.00525.
3
Trial
4
Avg
SD
4mL
Trial
1
Trial
2
Trial
3
Trial
4
Avg
SD
10m
L
Trial
1
Trial
2
Trial
3
Trial
4
Avg
SD
0.992
0.96
0.0249666
44
0.967
0.95475
0.0436835
21
1.021
1.00175
0.0205487
23
1mL Micro
Pipette
Graduate
d Cylinder
5mL
Pipette
3.987
3.922
3.958
3.947
3.876
3.965
3.937
3.904
3.955
3.941
3.953
0.023036
203
3.929
3.90775
0.023641
418
3.953
3.95775
0.005251
984
10mL
Volumetric
Flask
Graduated
Cylinder
10mL
Pipette
9.799
9.868
9.804
9.811
9.792
9.852
9.917
9.79
9.801
9.947
9.8685
0.0745005
59
9.763
9.80325
0.0451469
82
9.995
9.863
0.0910494
37
In the 10mL trials, the lowest
standard deviation was
0.04515 when the graduated
cylinder was used.
For Part B, the average masses from the water samples were used from Part A, but an additional
trial was needed to weight 2mL of water. Then, 1, 2, 4, and 10mL samples of ethanol were
weighed, and the average and standard deviation were calculated for each volume. Two graphs
were constructed using the masses and volumes from water and ethanol, and two equations were
created explaining the slope of each graph.
Micro
2ml
Micro
Average Mass water
of
Pipette
Pipette
Ethanol
Trial 1
1.963
Volume
Mass
Trial 2
1.981
(mL)
(g)
Trial 3
1.974
0.7617
Trial 4
1.972
Average Mass
of
1
5
Avg
1.9725
Water
2 1.5045
0.006422
Volume 4 Mass
3.077
SD
616
Micro
(mL)
10 (g)
7.73
Ethanol
Pipette
Pipette
1 1.0017
Trials
1ml
2ml
4ml
5
Trial 1
0.772
1.5
3.068
2 1.9725
Trial 2
0.759
1.512
3.076
4
3.953
Trial 3
0.757
1.503
3.083
9.8032
Trial 4
0.759
1.503
3.081
10
5
Avg
0.76175
1.5045
3.077
0.006898 0.005196 0.006683
SD
067
152
313
Density of Water (g/mL)
12
10
8
Mass (g)
6
4
2
0
f(x) = 0.98x + 0.03
Pipette
10ml
7.718
7.726
7.725
7.751
7.73
0.014445
299
Density of Ethanol (g/mL)
9
8
7
f(x) = 0.78x - 0.03
Mass (g)
5
4
3
2
The slopes of the two
graphs represent the
overall densities of
Ethanol and Water.
Therefore, the
calculated density of
water was 0.9782
g/mL and the
calculated density of
ethanol was 0.7757
g/mL.
1
0
For Part C, four different 1mL solutions of water and copper sulfate were prepared, each one
with a different amount of copper sulfate. The solution as weighed and the density of each
solution was calculated.
Mass of Copper
Sulfate (g)
1.0 g
0.75 g
0.5 g
0.25 g
Volume of Solution
(mL)
1.0 mL
1.0 mL
1.0 mL
1.0 mL
Mass of Solution
(g)
1.032g
1.026g
1.001g
0.996g
Density of Copper Sulfate Solution
Discussion
Density of Solution
(g/mL)
1.032 g/mL
1.026 g/mL
1.001 g/mL
0.996 g/mL
For Part A of the experiment, the micro pipette proved extremely accurate when
measuring a 1mL sample of water. Its standard deviation grew as larger samples were measured,
probably because the 1mL micro pipette had to be used repeatedly to measure the sample, and
there were probably measuring errors when the instrument was used repeatedly. For the 10mL
trial, surprisingly, the graduated cylinder proved most precise, although it was not the most
accurate.
For Part B, a micro pipette was used for the 1mL and 2mL samples, and a pipette was
used for the 4mL and 10mL samples to minimize the error that we probably saw in Part A. The
density of water, calculated from the slope of the graph, was 0.9782 g/mL, compared to the
density of ethanol, which was calculated to be 0.7757 g/mL. Temperature can affect the density,
as warmer temperature liquids are less dense and cooler liquids tend to be more dense. In this
case, both of the liquids were stored at room temperature, and temperature should not have been
a factor. In this part, the standard deviation was the smallest when the micro pipette measured the
2mL solution of ethanol, which proves again that it is the most precise and accurate instrument
when dealing with small amounts of liquid. The standard deviation for all of the trials in this part
was small, so we can conclude that the results should be fairly accurate.
For Part C, the density was simple to calculate, because the volume of the solution was
1mL for each of the trials. As more copper sulfate was added to the solution, the density
increased, showing that the addition of copper sulfate in a solution will increase the density. We
can predict that if we had added more than 1.0 grams of copper sulfate to the solution that the
density would have continued to increase. This hypothesis can be tested by creating an equation
based on the points on the graph, and inputting the new mass of copper sulfate on the x axis to
see what the y axis value would be. That value would be the density of the solution if it had that
amount of copper sulfate in it, and the hypothesis could be proven correct or false.
