Density by Caleb

            Density is a fraction which is used across the science community as helpful information. It shows what will float in what, and shows how hard an object or material is. Density is found by taking the mass of an object, and dividing it by the object’s volume. Before you can find density, you’ll need to find both the mass and volume.

            A popular method for finding volume is by using water displacement (Shown above). To do this, fill a beaker with water to a point at which the object can be submerged. Remember what volume the water is at, and then drop the object in the water. Find water level and subtract the initial water volume from the current water volume. This will give you the volume of the object. Water displacement is an accurate method, but it can’t be used in all situations. For example, if you wanted to find the volume of an ice cube, you would have to measure its dimensions and multiply them by each other (Length X Width X Height). Then you convert your measurements to centimeters cubed, which in turn turns into milliliters in a conversion of 1 to 1. Determining volume by measuring dimensions is not the most accurate, but sometimes it’s the only option.

            Mass is relatively easy to find. It is found by using a multitude of different scales. The different scales give more or less accurate masses. When using a scale, you’ll need to zero the scale, and then place the object on the scale. Convert the mass to grams, and then follow through with the density equation.

            Density is an important thing for all scientists to know. I’m glad I could teach you, and I hope you have a full grasp on density now.