MECHANICS OF FLUIDS

LABORATORY EXPERIMENT – 3

Measurements of
Densities and Specific
Gravity
CE121L – A06

SUBMITTED TO:
PROFESSOR: JOAN KASHMERE CANUSA

SUBMITTED BY:
DELA CRUZ, MA. CHINNIE
GARCIA, CHRISTIAN
REFUGIO, MARY ANGELUS
SANTOS, KIESHA RENEE
TUBANA, RENZ IVAN
 MECHANICS OF FLUIDS
LABORATORY EXPERIMENT – 3
I. INTRODUCTION
Density is a measure of how compact or
heavy it is, in a given volume. We measure
density in mass per unit volume which is written
using measures like grams per millilitre, grams
per cubic centimetre, or kilogram per liter.
Specific gravity is the ratio between the
density of an object, and reference substance. The
specific gravity can tell us, based on its value, if
the object will sink or float in our reference
substance. Usually our reference is water which
g g
always has density of 1 ml or 1 cm 3

 Instruments used:
1. Beakers
2. U-tube manometer
3. 100-ml graduated cylinder
4. Hydrometer
5. Thermometer
6. Ruler
7. Dishwashing Liquid
8. Shampoo
9. Cooking oil
10. Motor oil
 MECHANICS OF FLUIDS
LABORATORY EXPERIMENT – 3
II. METHODOLOGY
Experiment 3-A
1. Fill the graduated cylinder with water with not less
than the ¾ of the cylinder to prevent the
Hydrometer from breaking. Fill two graduated with
same amount.
2. Mix the first graduated cylinder with dishwashing
liquid and the second graduated cylinder with
shampoo. The shampoo and dishwashing liquid
must the same amount.
3. Measure the temperature of the shampoo and
dishwashing liquid. Record the temperature
measured.
4. Get the hydrometer for the measurement of the
density.

Experiment 3-B
1. Measure 10mL of oil and a quantity of water.
2. Get the temperature of the cooking oil and the
motor oil.
3. Fill the U-tube with water, at the same level in left
and right, pour the 10mL cooking oil and motor oil
separately.
4. Get the measurements of h1, h2 and h3 in
centimetres
 MECHANICS OF FLUIDS
LABORATORY EXPERIMENT – 3
III. DATA, COMPUTATION, AND ANALYSIS

Experiment 3-A
TEMPERATUR HYDROMETER g kg
LIQUID DENSITY ( ¿ DENSITY ( )
E (OC) SCALE READING mL m3
1.0083 1.0083 1008.3
Dishwashing
22 OC 1.017 1.017 1017
Liquid
1.017 1.017 1017
1.017 1.017 1017
Shampoo 26 OC 1.017 1.017 1017
1.017 1.017 1017
kg
To get the density in
m3
:
kg kg
1.0083 ×1000 m3 = 1008.3 m3

g kg
Conversion from mL to 3 :
m
kg 1000 g 1× 10−6 m 3 g
1008.3 3 × × = 1.0083 mL
m 1 kg 1 mL

Analysis:
The calculated densities of Dishwashing Liquid and Shampoo are the same.
Errors are expected to occur during the experiment because the amount of each
liquid are not the same. Hence, if we use the same amount of each test liquid, we
can identify which is denser.
 MECHANICS OF FLUIDS
LABORATORY EXPERIMENT – 3

Experiment 3-B
TRIAL 1 TRIAL 2 TRIAL 3
Liquid 1 (cooking oil)
Temp (oC): 23 oC 23 oC 23 oC
h1 32 cm 31 cm 31.5 cm
h2 21 cm 22 cm 22.2 cm
h3 8.7 cm 9 cm 8.1 cm
Liquid 2 (motor oil)
Temp (oC): 22 oC 22 oC 22 oC
h1 27.4 cm 27 cm 28.1 cm
h2 23.3 cm 23.6 cm 23 cm
h3 3.8 cm 3.4 cm 3 cm
Water
Temp (oC): 26 oC 26 oC 26 oC

Analysis:

Cooking Oil
Trial p SG
1 790.9091 0.7909
2 1000 1
3 870.9677 0.8710
 MECHANICS OF FLUIDS
LABORATORY EXPERIMENT – 3

Motor Oil
Trial p SG
1 987.2881 0.9873
2 1000 1
3 916.3347 0.9163

Working Equations
pH2Ogh3+poilgh2= poilgh1
SG=poil/pH2O
pH2Ogh3+poilgh2= poilgh1
1000(9.81)(0.087)+ poil(9.81)(0.21)= poil(9.81)(0.32)
poil=790.9091
SG=poil/pH2O
=790.9091/1000
=0.7909
Using the two working equations, we identified the specific gravity of the
test liquid. Based on the working equations, the calculated densities of the test
liquids show that Motor Oil is denser than Cooking Oil. Hence, there are some
errors occurred during the experiment. The measured heights may not be accurate.

CONCLUSION
Using hydrometer as the group wait for it to stop moving in an unstable way while floating
is a challenge, at first the group was not able to see and measure the density of water for the
hydrometer keeps on sinking instead of floating, due to the height of the tube. So, the tube was
changed immediately into a taller one for the accurate scale to come out. Another hindrance
for the group of being able to read the scale accurately, is caused by the obstructed line of
sight, either cause by the substance itself due to the touching of the substance with the wall of
 MECHANICS OF FLUIDS
LABORATORY EXPERIMENT – 3
the tube or either the appearance of obstructions like bubbles at the top surface of the liquid
where the reading of the hydrometer scale is. Upon having hindrances while conducting the
experiment the group were still able to gather data properly; the gathered data were still
justifiable due to the fact that the density of the dishwashing liquid is higher than water. The
observation that the resistance to flow of dishwashing liquid is greater than water is proven by
the data gathered by the observer.
The manometer is used to measure the pressure which is unknown by the balancing gravity
force and acceleration due to gravity. The experiment shows that using a U-tube manometer as a
way to determine the density of an unknown liquid produces a value that is relatively close to as
what the conventional method of mass-volume ratio produces. Given that the manometer is
sensitive to pressure changes, small changes in the composition of liquids inside will pose an
error in the result. Sources of error is less compared to other experiments, for the only source
was the cleaning of the U-tube manometer itself, though that pretty much affects the whole
experiment. Because when there is some obstructions like when there is bubbles and formation
of small globules of unknown liquid are trapped in between the liquids will make it much more
difficult to read the pressure heads and that is one of the disadvantages of using the U-tube
manometer. So the tube must be free from dirt and other unknown liquids to gather an accurate
data. The group has concluded that the U-tube method of taking the density of an unknown
liquid produces a reliable result, though it is the type of an experiment that needs high precision
and careful handling.

Reference: