A COMPARISON OF WATER AND SAND DISPLACEMENT DENSITY MEASUREMENTS FOR IRREGULAR SOLID OBJECTS

Authors

Russ Wilson, Gordon State CollegeFollow
Richard Willis Schmude Jr., Gordon State CollegeFollow

Abstract

One way to measure the density of a meteorite without exposing it to water is to use an inert solid. One inert solid is sand. We measured the mean volumes of 12 rocks with volumes ranging from 2.79 to 14.46 mL using both water and stand displacement. We discovered that gentle taps caused the sand volume to decrease a few percent. Therefore, we tapped the graduated cylinder six times on a hard surface before making sand volume measurements. The mean standard deviations for the water and sand measurements were 0.152 mL and 0.537 mL, respectively. The mean percent error of the sand displacement measurements compared to the water displacement measurements was 2.06 %. We conclude the volumes of irregular objects may be measured using sand displacement to an accuracy of 2 %. Accuracy should increase if the sand is tapped in a consistent way before each volume measurement.

Acknowledgements

Gordon State College

Recommended Citation

Wilson, Russ and Schmude, Richard Willis Jr. (2020) "A COMPARISON OF WATER AND SAND DISPLACEMENT DENSITY MEASUREMENTS FOR IRREGULAR SOLID OBJECTS," Georgia Journal of Science, Vol. 78, No. 1, Article 126.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.gaacademy.org/gjs/vol78/iss1/126