(/President Ramon Magsaysay State University

(Formerly Ramon Magsaysay Technological University)

Iba, Zambales, Philippines
Tel/Fax No.: (047) 811-1683

College / Department College of Arts and Sciences

Course Code Chem 1
Course Title General Chemistry 1
Place of the Course in the Program Core Science Course
Semester & Academic Year First Semester AY 2020-21
Topic
Density and Specific Gravity

Introduction
A Styrofoam coffee cup is “light,” but a lead car battery is “heavy.” Actually, by themselves these terms, light and
heavy, are not very useful because a truckload of Styrofoam would be quite heavy. The volume and mass of a substance
are extensive properties that depend on the size of the sample.

S ome physical properties such as odor, color, and physical state can be determined by observation. Others, such as
melting or boiling point, must be determined by measurements. Another important intensive physical property that is
obtained from measurements is density.

Density as a Physical Property

The physical property of density is an intensive property that allows us to compare the mass of substances for a
specific volume. Density is the ratio of the mass (usually in grams) to the volume (usually in milliliters for a solid or
liquid or liters for a gas). The Greek letter rho , ρ, is used to represent density:
Density (ρ) = mass / Volume
The density of a substance does not depend on the amount present. The density of lead will always be greater than the
density of Styrofoam, no matter how much is present.
The density of a pure substance is a property that can be used to identify a particular element or compound. The
densities of several liquids and solids are listed in Table 1. (Because the volume of liquids and solids expand slightly as
the temperature rises, densities are usually given at a specific temperature. In this case, 20°C is the reference temperature.)
Because 1 mL is the same as 1 cm3, density is also expressed as g/cm3.

You can prove that the density of a substance does not depend on sample size with a simple demonstration. If you had a
beaker of water, you could measure its volume and mass and from those two measurements calculate its density. If your
lab partners were evaluating some water in a smaller beaker, they would measure an appropriately smaller mass and
smaller volume. If you compared the results, you would find that the density of water is the same regardless of the original
amount present.

The calculation of density from the two measurements is discussed in the following two examples. Usually, the volume
of an unknown sample is often measured by the displacement of water. When a substance is added to water it will either
sink or float depending on its density. (Assuming that it doesn’t dissolve in or react with water.) If the unknown is less
dense than water, it will float and it is said to be buoyant in water. If it is denser, it sinks. In the example that follows, the
unknown sinks, so we can conclude that it is denser than water and we can measure its volume by the volume of water
that is displaced.

Table 1. Density values of some materials

Density, the ratio of mass/volume, has many applications in the chemical industry. The relationship between mass
and volume is an important aspect of the characterization and specification of both solids and liquids. For example,
valuable metals and gem stones are characterized by their densities. Bulk chemicals are shipped in drums and totes
weighing hundreds of pounds. Conversion of pounds to gallons or into metric equivalents is a critical aspect of trade.
Shipping costs are most often determined by weight.

Density can be used to quantify the dissolved solids in liquids. For example, high concentrations of salt in brines
increase the density of these solutions. 𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝜌 = 𝑚 /V , 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑚 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑉 = 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 .
The most common laboratory units for density are g/cm3 (g/mL), while industrially, a variety of different units are
encountered: lb/gal, lb/ft3 , and lb/in3 .

Density of Solids
Measurement of the density of an unknown solid is relatively easy. Determine both the mass and the volume of a
substance, then divide the mass by the volume to calculate its density.

Specific Gravity
On the other hand, specific gravity is the density of a substance divided by the density of water. The density units
cancel, leaving specific gravity a unitless number. Since we often assume the density of pure water to be 1.0 g/mL, the
specific gravity usually agrees closely with density. Temperature changes affect the density of water, resulting in
differences between density and specific gravity of the material being tested.

𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 / 𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

Archimedes (ca. 287-212 BC) was a Greek mathematician who is credited with first discovering and characterizing the
mass-to-volume relationship of materials. The king Hiero supposedly challenged Archimedes to find out if his goldsmith
had replaced some of the king’s gold with silver when making a wreath-like crown. But, of course, the king will not allow
Archimedes to ruin the crown by cutting into it. While struggling with this, he notices that as he gets into a bathtub, the
water rises up (overflows) by a volume equal to his own body’s volume. Realizing he has found a way to measure the
volume of irregular objects such as the crown, he jumps from the tub and runs through the streets screaming “Eureka!
Eureka!” (“I’ve found it!” I’ve found it.”)
Knowing the mass and the volume allows the calculation of density. For water, there is 1 g of water for every 1
ml of water, hence, its density is 1g/mL. Other materials, have different vaules . So, in the case of water, the mass of the
water displaced is essentially also the volume of water displaced (assuming 1 mL of pure water has a mass of 1 gram.)

Pycnometer Measurement of Specific Gravity

A pycnometer is a simple container used to compare the densities of liquids. A simple pycnometer could be a graduated
cylinder or volumetric flask. However, most often it is a carefully designed container than can be easily filled with an
exact, fixed volume of liquid. A few of the most common designs are shown below

Figure 1. Examples of available pycnometers

Pycnometers are calibrated by filling completely with pure water and weighing the net mass of water. The density
of water is then used to calculate the exact volume of the pycnometer. After cleaning and drying, an unknown liquid is
added to the pycnometer and weighed. The net mass is then used to calculate the density of the unknown liquid:
There is a noticeable difference between density and specific gravity, even though both are used to represent mass and are
used to compare different substances. Density is the property of matter represented by a ratio of mass to a unit volume of
matter. Specific gravity which is also called as relative density is a measure of density with respect to a density of pure
water. There are many properties of water, such as conductivity of water and many more Mathematic is represented as:
specific gravity substance = ρsubstance / ρreference
Difference Between Density and Specific Gravity

Density Specific Gravity (Relative Density)

It is the mass of an object per unit volume Relative density is the ratio of a substance’s weight to the
weight of the same volume of water.

To calculate density, we need to know the weight and We can get this by dividing the density of a substance with
volume of the substance. the density of water.

It is represented in absolute term It is represented in relative term

Its symbol is ρ is represented in kilogram per cubic It does not have a SI unit
meter

It is used in many domestic and commercial It is used in industries to measure the concentration of
applications solutions.

Sample Computations

Example 1 Identifying a Substance from Density

A person was interested in purchasing a ring of pure gold having a mass of 89.9 g. Being wise, she wished to confirm that
it was actually gold before she paid for it. With a quick test using a graduated cylinder like that shown in the previous
example, she found that the ring had a volume of 7.96 mL. Was it made of gold?

PROCEDURE

By calculating the density of the ring, we can provide evidence as to its identity. Density is a constant and unchanging
property of a pure element or compound (at a specific temperature). From the volume and the mass, the density can be
calculated by dividing the mass by the volume. Compare this value to that of gold in Table 3-1.

SOLUTION

density of the ring = 89.9 g , 7.96 mL = 11.3 g/mL

A N A LY S I S
Is the ring pure gold? Should she buy it? Comparing the result to the values in Table 3-1, we see that it’s not pure gold.
Pure gold would have a density of 19.3 g/Ml

Example 2 Determining the Mass from the Volume Using Density

What is the volume in milliliters occupied by 485 g of table salt?

PROCEDURE
Use the density of table salt as a conversion factor from mass to volume.

1. The unit map for the conversion is

g → mL
2. The density of table salt is given in Table 3-1 as 2.16 g/mL. We need to invert this relationship so that g is in the
denominator and mL is in the numerator. This factor then converts mass to the equivalent volume. The factor for this
conversion is
1 mL
2.16 g
SOLUTION
485 g x 1 mL = 2.25 mL
2.16 g

A N A LY S I S

To check your answer, you can plug it back into the density formula.
density = mass ÷ volume
density = 485 g ÷ 225 mL = 2.16 g/ml

This is the original reported density. The answer checks out.

As shown below, the mass is obtained by placing the substance on an electronic balance, while the volume is measured
from the volume differences of the water.

ANALYSIS
The problem stated that the sample was a pure substance. With the information given to you in Table1, can you determine
the substance? (Yes. Table 1 indicates that aluminum has a density of 2.70 g/mL. Therefore, the sample is most likely
aluminum.)

Specific Gravity

In place of density, certain applications, especially in the medical field, use the term specific gravity. Specific gravity
is the ratio of the mass of a substance to the mass of an equal volume of water under the same conditions. Since the mass
of water is 1.00 g/mL, specific gravity has the same value as density, only expressed without units. For example, the
density of aluminum is 2.70 g/mL, so its specific gravity is simply 2.70.

Sources:
//jersey.uoregon.edu/~mstrick/AskGeoMan/geoQuerry7.html
https://byjus.com/physics/difference-between-density-and-specific-gravity/
http://faculty.weber.edu/ewalker/Chem2990/Chem%202990%20Specific%20Gravity%20Readings%20Rev2%20.pdf