Name: _____________________________
Density Review
Directions: Answer the following questions.
1. A really big ship with dimensions of 1 mile by 2 miles has a density of 1.2 g/cm3. Is it possible for
this ship to float on the ocean (ocean water has a density of 1.03 g/cm3)?
a. Yes, because even though the ship has a higher density it is made to overcome that problem.
b. No, because the ship’s density is greater than the ocean water density.
c. No, because the ship’s size is too large to float.
d. Yes, because the high concentration of salt in the ocean allows things to float.
2. If I drop a tiny piece of gold (density of 19.3 g/ml) into a giant, filled swimming pool filled with clean
water, what will happen to the gold?
a. The gold will float since it’s mass:volume ratio is less than water’s
b. It depends on the size of the tiny gold piece. If it’s very small, it will float.
c. The gold will sink since it has a mass greater than it’s volume.
d. The gold will float because the swimming pool is large.
3. The density of a piece of notebook paper is 0.61 g/ml. What would the density be if I tore the
paper in half?
a. The density will be smaller since there is less mass.
b. The density will be the same since the ratio stayed the same.
c. The density will be greater since the volume is less.
d. We would have to measure the volume and mass to determine the density so there isn’t
enough information.
4. The density of air is 0.001185 g/ml. The density of a human is around 1 g/ml. What would happen
to you if the density of air suddenly became 2 g/ml?
a. Nothing would happen since it would depend on how much gravity there was.
b. We would get heavier since the air density is higher.
c. We would float since higher density sinks and lower density floats.
d. Our density would double as well since the air density doubled.
5. Why is using the word “heavy” to describe something’s density incorrect?
a. Heavy is a term that refers to how much gravity is pulling on an object so it is not a good word.
b. Heavy is a greater word to describe density since it describes how much mass an object has.
c. Heavy refers to weight and mass and weight are the same thing so it is a great word to describe
density.
d. Heavy is not a good word choice since it does not describe the space something takes up.
6. Draw the particle structure of a solid, liquid, and gas:
Solid
Liquid
Gas
7. Which phase (solid, liquid, or gas) in the previous problem has the highest density? Lowest density?
Why?
8. “Weight determines if something will sink or float.”
a. True since mass and weight are the same thing
b. True since density depends on mass the most.
c. False since density depends on both mass and volume.
d. False since weight depends on gravity which is what determines if something sinks or floats.
9. “Objects with holes will always sink.”
a. True since water will fill in the gaps and push the air out increasing the density of the object.
b. False since the material may have a density lower than water.
c. True since more holes means less mass so the object will sink.
d. False since this lowers the volume which will increase the density of an object.
10. “Density refers to how thick something is.”
a. True since thickness is a great indicator of how much mass something has.
b. False since thickness only refers to the volume of an object.
c. False since thickness is a measure of molecular strength and density depends on molecules.
d. True since thickness refers to how well a material holds together which is critical for density.