Grade 10 Physics Notes Page 1 of 7

Volume (V)
 Volume is the space occupied by a substance.
 The SI unity for volume is cubic metre (m3).
 Other units of volume include: Litre (l), millilitre (ml), cubic centimetre (cm3), cubic
millimetre (mm3) e.t.c.
NOTE:
1 m3 = 1000 litres
1 cm3 = 1 ml
1 litre = 1000 cm3

Measuring volume

1. Volume of liquids
 Volume of liquids is usually measured using instruments called measuring cylinder
or burette or pipette.
 To measure the volume of a liquid, pour it in the measuring cylinder and take the
reading by placing the eye on the level with the surface of liquid as shown below.

Mr. Kawanga. D. 2022

Grade 10 Physics Notes Page 2 of 7

Burette

2. Volume of regular objects

Name/object Volume of object

V =l 3
Cube l
Cuboid

V =lbh

V =π r 2 h
Cylinder

1 2
V= π r h
3
Cone

Mr. Kawanga. D. 2022

 Grade 10 Physics Notes Page 3 of 7

3. Volume of an irregularly shaped objects (solids)

 To measure the volume of an object such as a stone which has an irregular shape,
lower it into a liquid and measure how much liquid it displaces. There are two ways of
doing this:
I. Using a measuring cylinder (Displacement method)
(i) Pour water into the cylinder and read the volume and record as initial volume (V1).
(ii) Tie a thin thread around the object and gently lower it into the water.
(iii) Read the new volume as final volume (V2).
(iv) Volume of the object is the is the volume of water it displaces:
V =V 2−V 1

II. Using a eureka can (overflow can)

(i) Fill the eureka can with water up to the spout.
(ii) Tie a thin thread around the object and gently lower it into the water.
(iii) Read the volume of water that runs down the measuring cylinder (V).

Mr. Kawanga. D. 2022

Grade 10 Physics Notes Page 4 of 7

4. Volume of a floating object

(i) Measure and record the volume of a heavy object that can sink in water (Vs).
(ii) Tie a floating object to a heavy object that sinks in water and measure and record their
volume (Vs+f).
(iii) Find the volume of a floating object using the formula: V f =V s+f −V s

Exercise

1. The following diagrams show steps that a learner carried out in order to determine the
volume of a wooden cork.

What is the volume of the wooden cork?

Density (ρ)

 Density is the mass per unit volume of a material.

 The SI unit for density is kg/m3.
 Other units for density include: g/cm3
mass
Density=
volume
m
ρ=
v

Example

1. Calculate the density of iron if a block of iron has a mass of 78.7g and volume of 10cm3.
2. A body of mass 500g was suspended in 100cm3 of water by a piece of cotton. The water
level rises to 150 cm3. What is the density of the body?
3. A stone has a mass of 390g and a density of 2.7g/cm3. Cooking oil has a density of
0.90g/cm3. What mass of oil has the same volume as the stone?

Mr. Kawanga. D. 2022

Grade 10 Physics Notes Page 5 of 7

Exercise
1. A metal has a mass of 255g and a volume of 30cm3. What is its density?
2. A stone of mass 400g is lowered into a measuring cylinder containing water. The water
level rises from 300cm3 to 500cm3. What is the density of the stone?
3. A cube with side 2m long has a mass of 8kg. What is its density?
4. A container of mass 200g contains 160cm3 of liquid. The total mass of the container and
liquid is 520g. What is the density of the liquid?
5. A stone of mass 24g and a density 2.5g/cm3 is split into two pieces of mass 18g and 6g
respectively. What is the density of the smaller piece?
6. Describe an experiment you would carry out to determine the density of an irregularly
shaped object which floats on water.
7. (a) Briefly describe how the mass of a liquid can be determined. Show how the final
result can be calculated.
(b) An empty relative density bottle has a mass of 35g. When filled with water, its mass
becomes 85g.
Calculate the
(i) Mass of water.
(ii) Volume of the bottle (take the density of water to be 1g/cm3)
8. The diagram below shows a block of wood of density 0.6g/cm3.

What is the mass of the block?

9. (a) What is the difference between density and relative density?
(b) The diagram below shows a cuboid container that has a 5cm square base and contains
water to a height of 6cm.

Mr. Kawanga. D. 2022

Grade 10 Physics Notes Page 6 of 7

(i) What is the volume of the water?

(ii) A stone is immersed into the water in the cuboid causing the water to rise to a
height of 8cm. determine the volume of the stone.
(iii) If the mass of the stone is 80kg, calculate the density of the stone.

Density of mixture of liquids

 Liquids that mix are called miscible liquids. e.g. water and alcohol.
 Liquids that do not mix are called immiscible liquids. e.g. water and oil.
 To calculate the density of two miscible liquids use the formula below:
m1+m2
ρ=
V 1 +V 2
Where;
 m1 and m2 are masses of two liquids and
 V1 and V2 are their volumes.
Example
1. Calculate the density of a mixture that contains 100 cm3of alcohol of mass 79g and 200
cm3 of water of mass 200g.
Exercise
1. Paraffin and linseed oil are miscible. Calculate the density of a mixture of 50 cm3
paraffin of mass 40g mixed with 150 cm3 linseed oil of mass 140g.
Relative density
 Relative density is the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of water.
density of substance
Relativ e density =
density of water

Mr. Kawanga. D. 2022

Grade 10 Physics Notes Page 7 of 7

 Relative density has no units.

 If the relative density of a substance is greater than 1, it will sink in water.
 If the relative density of a substance is less than 1, it will float in water.

Example

1. The density of silver is 10.49 g/cm3, calculate its relative density.

Exercise

1. Define relative density.

2. Give one reason why the densities of substances are compared with the density water to
come up with the list of relative densities?
3. Does the relative density have units of measurement? Give a reason for your answer.

Mr. Kawanga. D. 2022