Sep 15 2014- Measuring the Density of Metal Cylinders and Mass of Unknown Obejct

Purpose: Calculate the density of 3 different metals and the mass of an unknown object, and calculate the uncertainty of those measurements.

This is a caliper, which we used to find the diameter and the height of the three metals. We also used a regular scale to find the mass of those three metals.

With those calculations, we plan to find the density of each metal from the equation density=mass/volume, and by using a given equation dP/P = dm/m + dh/h + 2dd/d where dm, dh, and dd are the uncertainty of each measurement, we are going to find the uncertainty of the density, which is dP. The scale has uncertainty of 0.1g and the caliper has uncertainty of 0.01cm. After that, we are going to analyze an unknown object hanging by two springs and by calculating the tension and angle of each spring we are going to determine the object's mass.

This picture shows the calculations of the three metals: aluminum, bronze and copper. We found the uncertainty of the density for each one of them.

This picture is a continuation of the calculations for the three metals. The lower part of the picture shows the calculations made in order for us to find the mass of the unknown object.

This is a picture of how the unknown object was hanging. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the actual object, so I used the drawing from the lab sheet to demonstrate the scenario that we analyzed.

Summary: First, we used a caliper and a scale to find the height, diameter and mass of the three metals: aluminum, bronze and copper. Because we were given the uncertainty of the caliper and the scale, which were cited above in the brief explanation, we were able to plug those numbers in the equation which was also cited in the explanation. From that, we were able to find the density of those metals and the uncertainty of that density value. After that, we analyzed a hanging object and by calculating the tension and angle of each spring holding that object, we could find an estimate of the object's mass.