PED 208 Thermodynamics

Topic: Density, Volume

Assignment 1

September 2, 2024

Conceptual Questions
1.
An object has density ρ.
(a) Suppose each of the object’s three dimensions is increased by a factor of 2 without changing the material
of which the object is made. Will the density change? If so, by what factor? Explain.
(b) Suppose each of the object’s three dimensions is increased by a factor of 2 without changing the object’s
mass. Will the density change? If so, by what factor? Explain.

2.
Rank in order, from largest to smallest, the pressures at a, b, and c in Figure 1. Explain.

Figure 2: Figure: 4 Figure: 5

3. Rank in order, from largest to smallest, the pressures at d, e, and f in Figure 1. Explain.

4. Figure 4 shows two rectangular tanks, A and B, full of water. They have equal depths and equal
thicknesses (the dimension into the page) but different widths.
(a) Compare the forces the water exerts on the bottoms of the tanks. Is FA larger than, smaller than, or
equal to FB ? Explain.

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 (b) Compare the forces the water exerts on the sides of the tanks. Is FA larger than, smaller than, or equal
to FB ? Explain.

5. In Figure 5, is pA larger than, smaller than, or equal to pB ? Explain.

6. Rank in order, from largest to smallest, the densities of blocks a, b, and c in Figure 6. Explain.

7. Blocks a, b, and c in Figure 7 have the same volume. Rank in order, from largest to smallest, the sizes
of the buoyant forces Fa , Fb , and Fc on a, b, and c. Explain.

Figure 6: Figure: 7

8. Blocks a, b, and c in Figure 7 have the same density. Rank in order, from largest to smallest, the sizes
of the buoyant forces Fa , Fb , and Fc on a, b, and c. Explain.

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Fluids
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9. The density of 1kg of iron is 7.9g/cm . What is the density of 2kg of iron?
10. Is density an intrinsic or bulk property of matter?
11. Convert 5ft into dm3 and m3 .
12. Express 0.048lt in dm3 and m3 .
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13. Convert 0.8kg/lt into g/dm .
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14. What is the volume of 1kg of aluminum in cm3 ? (Take ρAluminum = 2.7g/cm )
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15. What is the mass of 750liters of gasoline? (Take ρgasoline = 680kg/m )
16. Water and ethyl alcohol are mixed in equal volumes. What is the density of the mixture? (Take
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ρalcohol = 800kg/m )
17. Show that when two liquids of equal mass are mixed, the density of the mixture is given by ρmixture =
2ρ1 ρ2
ρ1 +ρ2 where ρ1 and ρ2 are the densities of the liquids.

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18. What is the volume in mL of 55 g of a liquid with density 1100 kg/m ?

19. Cylinders A and B have equal heights. Cylinder A is filled with helium gas at 1.0 atm pressure and
0°C. The diameter of cylinder B is half that of cylinder A, and cylinder B is filled with glycerin. What is
the ratio of the fluid mass in cylinder B to that in cylinder A?

20.
(a) 50 g of gasoline are mixed with 50 g of water. What is the average density of the mixture?
(b) 50 cm3 of gasoline are mixed with 50 cm3 of water. What is the average density of the mixture?

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Pressure
21. What is the definition of pressure?
22. What is the SI unit for pressure?
2
23. Convert 0.3Pa into N/cm .
2
24. Express 12, 000N/m in atm.
25. Express 70cmHg in atmospheres and in Pascals.
26. What are the factors affecting atmospheric pressure?
27. An 85kg man stands on his skis, each having an area of 0.2m2 . What is the pressure applied by the
pair of skis on the snow in units of Pascals (Pa)?
28. What is the pressure applied by an iron cube on the floor? The side length of the cube is 10cm. (Take
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ρiron = 7.9g/cm )
29. What is the difference between the transmission of force by solids and by liquids?
30. At what depth below a lake surface is the total pressure 3 times the normal atmospheric pressure?
31. At what depth below a lake surface is the total pressure 3 times the normal atmospheric pressure?
32. A pressure of 106 Pa of hot steam applies 100kN force to a surface. What is the area of the surface in
m2 ?
33. A test-tube is plugged with a cork and heated. The pressure of the air inside reaches 200kPa. What
is the pressure force pushing the cork from inside if the cross-sectional area is 1cm2 ?
34. A swimming pool has dimensions 30m × 10m and a flat bottom. When the pool is filled to a depth of
3m with water, what is the pressure force exerted by the water (a) at the bottom? (b) on the larger side?
35. Three containers having different shapes, but equal base areas are filled with the same liquid up to the
same height. Compare the pressures and the pressure forces applied by the liquids on the bottoms of the
containers.

Figure 35: Figure: 36 Figure: 38

36. The area of the larger piston of the hydraulic lever in the figure is 10 times the area of the smaller
piston. What is the force acting on the larger piston if the force on the smaller piston is 1800 N? The pistons
are weightless.
37. The hydraulic lever in the previous question is filled with oil. Does the answer to the previous question
change if water is used in place of oil? (Take Pwater > Poil )
38. The cross-sectional areas of the two arms of the hydraulic lever are A1 = 100 cm2 and A2 = 10 cm2 ,
and the mass of the piston is M = 4 kg. What is the height h, in units of cm, when the system is at rest as
shown in the figure?

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39. The cross-sectional areas of the two arms of the hydraulic lever are A1 = 100 cm2 and A2 = 10 cm2 ,
and the masses of the pistons are M1 = 4 kg, M2 = 0.2 kg, respectively. What is the height h, in units of
cm, when the system is at rest, as shown in the figure?

Figure 39: Figure: 42 Figure: 43

40. The pressure of 1 mm-Hg is called 1 torr. Express 1 torr in Pa.

41. Differentiate between gauge pressure and absolute pressure.
42. Two manometers are shown in the figure. In which barometer does the height of the mercury column
equal the absolute pressure of the gas in the balloon? Which one reads the gauge pressure?
43. An open-tube mercury barometer is shown in the figure. What is the absolute pressure of the gas in
the balloon if h = 20 cm? Atmospheric pressure is P0 = 1 atm. Express the answer:
(a) In cm-Hg
(b) In atm

Figure 44:

44. What is the value of pressure P3 , cm-Hg in, if h1 = 23 cm, h2 = 15 cm and P1 = 1 atm? The liquid in
the tubes is mercury.
45. The diameter of one arm of a U-tube is three times the diameter of the other arm. Some mercury is
poured into the larger arm. What is the ratio of the heights of the mercury columns in the two arms?
46. A 6.0 m × 12.0 m swimming pool slopes linearly from a 1.0 m depth at one end to a 3.0 m depth at
the other. What is the mass of water in the pool?
47. A 3.0 cm-diameter tube is held upright and filled to the top with mercury. The mercury pressure at
the bottom of the tube—the pressure in excess of atmospheric pressure—is 50 kPa. How tall is the tube?

48. A 1.0 m-diameter vat of liquid is 2.0m deep. The pressure at the bottom of the vat is 1.3atm. What
is the mass of the liquid in the vat?

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49.
(a) What volume of water has the same mass as 8.0 m3 of ethyl alcohol?
(b) If this volume of water is in a cubic tank, what is the pressure at the bottom?

50. A 50-cm-thick layer of oil floats on a 120-cm-thick layer of water. What is the pressure at the bottom
of the water layer?

51. A research submarine has a 20-cm-diameter window 8.0 cm thick. The manufacturer says the window
can withstand forces up to 1.0 × 106 N. What is the submarine’s maximum safe depth? The pressure inside
the submarine is maintained at 1.0 atm.

52. A 20-cm-diameter circular cover is placed over a 10-cm-diameter hole that leads into an evacuated
chamber. The pressure in the chamber is 20 kPa. How much force is required to pull the cover off?

53. The container shown in Figure 44 is filled with oil. It is open to the atmosphere on the left.
1. What is the pressure at point A?
2. What is the pressure difference between points A and B? Between points A and C?

Figure 43:

54. A 20-cm-diameter circular cover is placed over a 10-cm-diameter hole that leads into an evacuated
chamber. The pressure in the chamber is 20 kPa. How much force is required to pull the cover off?

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Buoyancy
55. An object of volume 0.06 m3 is completely immersed in water. What is the buoyant force acting on
the object?
56. The buoyant force acting on an object, completely immersed in a liquid, is 1.8 N. What is the density
of the liquid, if the volume of the object is 225 cm3 ?
57. What is the buoyant force acting on a ship traveling with 900 m3 of its volume under water?
58. The buoyant force acting on an object, completely under water is 800 N. What is the buoyant force
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acting on the same object when it is completely immersed in oil, of density 800 kg/m ?
59. The weight of an iron block is 790 N. What is the apparent weight of the same block when it is
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completely immersed in water? The density of iron is 7, 900 kg/m .
60. An object weighs 18, 000 N in air and 15, 000 N when completely immersed in water. What is the
density of the object?
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61. The object in the figure is made of a material of density 3, 000 kg/m . What is the tension in the rope,
which suspends the object, when it is completely immersed in water? The mass of the object is 200 kg.

Figure 61: Figure: 62

62. Two blocks of equal mass float in the water, as shown in the figure. The blocks are made of different
materials. Upon which block is the buoyant force greater?
63. What is the weight of a ship traveling with 900 m3 of its volume under water?
64. A wooden block floats over water with 0.08 m3 of its volume under the surface of the water. What is
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the mass of the block? (Take ρwood = 600 kg/m )
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65. A large wooden block having a weight of 6, 200N floats over water. The density of wood is 620kg/m .
What additional force is needed to completely sink the block, such that it is totally under water?

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66. An open box with a base area of 400cm2 floats over water with 5cm of its height floating over the
surface of the water, as in the figure. What additional mass can this box carry without sinking?

Figure 66: Figure: 69

67. A large wooden block of mass 1800kg is partially floating on the water. What is the volume of a block
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of wood which floats on the surface of the water? The density of wood is 600 kg/m .
68. A raft of surface area 5m2 floats on the surface of the water. A 100kg man jumps onto the raft. By
how many centimeters does the raft sink due to the man’s additional weight?
69. A plastic block of mass m1 partially floats over the water surface, with half of its volume under the
water surface. The plastic block sinks completely when an iron cube of mass m2 is placed on top of it, as
shown in the figure. What is the ratio of the two masses, m2 /m1 ?
70. A large ship floats in a small lake. Does the level of water in the lake rise or fall if the ship sinks?
71. What is the height of a water barometer at atmospheric pressure?

71. What is the minimum hose diameter of an ideal vacuum cleaner that could lift a 10 kg (22 lb) dog off
the floor?

73. How far must a 2.0-cm-diameter piston be pushed down into one cylinder of a hydraulic lift to raise
an 8.0-cm-diameter piston by 20 cm?

74. A 6.00-cm-diameter sphere with a mass of 89.3 g is neutrally buoyant in a liquid. Identify the liquid.

75. A 2.0cm × 2.0cm × 6.0cm block floats in water with its long axis vertical. The length of the block
above water is 2.0 cm. What is the block’s mass density?

76. A 2.0
textcm × 2.0cm × 6.0cm block floats in water with its long axis vertical. The length of the block above water
is 2.0 cm. What is the block’s mass density?

77. Astronauts visiting a new planet find a lake filled with an unknown liquid. They have with them a
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plastic cube, 6.0cm on each side, with a density of 840kg/m . First, they weigh the cube with a spring scale,
measuring a weight of 21N. Then they float the cube in the lake and find that two-thirds of the cube is
submerged. At what depth in the lake will the pressure be twice the atmospheric pressure of 85kPa?

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78. A sphere completely submerged in water is tethered to the bottom with a string. The tension in the
string is one-third the weight of the sphere. What is the density of the sphere?

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79. A 5.0kg rock whose density is 4800kg/m is suspended by a string such that half of the rock’s volume
is under water. What is the tension in the string?

80. What is the tension in the string in Figure 80?

Figure 80:

81. A 10
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textcm-diameter, 20cm-tall steel cylinder (ρsteel = 7900kg/m ) floats in mercury. The axis of the cylinder is
perpendicular to the surface. What length of steel is above the surface?

82. You need to determine the density of a ceramic statue. If you suspend it from a spring scale, the scale
reads 28.4N. If you then lower the statue into a tub of water, so that it is completely submerged, the scale
reads 17.0N. What is the statue’s density?

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83. Styrofoam has a density of 150kg/m . What is the maximum mass that can hang without sinking
from a 50cm-diameter Styrofoam sphere in water? Assume the volume of the mass is negligible compared
to that of the sphere.

84. You and your friends are playing in the swimming pool with a 60cm-diameter beach ball. How much
force would be needed to push the ball completely under water?