Title: Collection and Analysis of Data

Purpose: To become familiar with data collection and analysis using common
substances.

Materials: Electronic balance, graduate, paper cups, graph paper, water, vegetable
oil, and ethanol

Safety: Ethanol is both toxic and flammable. No flames in the lab and keep the
ethanol out of your mouths.

Procedure:

1. Using your graduate, measure exactly 10.0 ml of water. Add the water to the
cup. Record the mass of the water and cup in your data table. Use figure 1 as
a model for your data table.
2. Repeat step one four more times (don’t empty the cup until you have
recorded your fifth measurement).
3. In a clean dry cup add exactly 10.0 of vegetable oil to the cup. Record the
mass of the cup and oil.
4. Repeat step 3 four more times.
5. In a clean dry cup add exactly 10.0 ml of ethanol. Record the mass of the cup
and ethanol.
6. Repeat step 5 four more times.
7. Discard the cups and clean your lab station. Be sure to discard the oil into the
appropriate container. The water and ethanol may be discarded in the sink.
8. Analyze your data.

Figure 1.

Mass 1 Mass 2 Mass 3 Mass 4

Mass 5

Water

Oil

Ethanol

Analysis:

1. Using the water data, prepare a graph of cup and water mass as a function of
volume. That is, the volume will be the independent variable and the masses,
the dependent variable. Be sure to title and label your graph appropriately.
2. Determine the slope of the line of best fit for your data.
3. Write the volume – mass relationship as a function, F(x) = mX +b
4. What do the terms F(x), m, X, and b mean (volume, mass, slope and or the y
intercept)?

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 5. Repeat the analysis steps 1-4 for the oil and ethanol data. You may use the
same piece of graph paper.

Discussion:

1. What are the units of “m”? What common physical characteristic has these
same units?

2. What are the masses of the cups in terms of the F(x) = mX + b equation?
Confirm by direct measure of the cups.

3. Compare the densities of these substances to the accepted values (Your text
may be a good source of information).

Water Oil Ethanol

Experimental

Accepted

4. Summarize what you have learned in this experiment.

5. Identify potential sources of error.

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Prepared by: R.K. Vermillion Westminster Schools 27 May 2009
Atlanta, GA 30327