Record responses in med blue bold font

Student Exploration: Density Experiment: Slice and Dice

Define Vocabulary
Density: The degree of compactness of a substance
Mass: A coherent, typically large body of matter with no definite shape
Matter: The substance or substances of which any physical object consists or is composed
Volume: The quantity of three-dimensional space occupied by a liquid, solid, or gas

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

1. What do you think would happen if you threw a block of Styrofoam™ into the water? The Styrofoam will float

2. What would happen if you broke the Styrofoam up into lots of pieces, then threw the pieces into water? The pieces will still float
3. What
Mass: 7.28 g Volume: 36.4 cm3 Density: 0.2 g/cm3

6. Apply: An archaeologist finds a golden figurine. How could she determine if the figurine is solid gold without cutting it? Measure the mass and volume. Then determine the density of the solid gold.

|Activity B: |Get the Gizmo ready: |[pic] |
| |Click Reset. | |
|Sink or float? | | |

Question: The density of water is 1.0 g/mL, which is equivalent to 1 g/cm3. How does an object’s density affect whether it sinks or floats in water?

1. Form hypothesis: How do you think an object’s density relates to whether it sinks or floats?

If the density is greater than water, then the object will sink. If the density is less than water, the object will float.

2. Collect data: Measure the mass and volume of each known material, and calculate its density. Then drag each material into the water to see whether it sinks or floats.

|Material |Mass |Volume |Density |Sinks or floats? |
|Styrofoam |7.28 g |36.4 cm3 |0.2