EXPERIMENT NO.

MEASUREMENT OF DENSITIES AND SPECIFIC GRAVITIES

PART A. Determining of Specific Gravity Using a Hydrometer

I. INTRODUCTION

Specific Gravity is a dimensionless unit defined as the ratio of the density of a substance to the density
of water. In symbols,
𝛾𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝑆𝐺 = ---------------------------------------------------- (1)
𝛾𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

where 𝛾𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 is the density of any substance and 𝛾𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 is that of water.

In this part of the experiment, hydrometer shall be used in determining the specific gravity of a variety
of 4 liquids - Water, Engine oil, Glycerol, and Castor oil in determining the density.

A manometer is a tube usually bent in a form of U, containing unknown specific gravity, the surface of
which moves proportionally to changes or pressure. It is used to measure pressure.

The three types of manometer are open type, differential type and piezometer. The open type
manometer has an atmospheric surface in one leg and is capable of measuring gage pressures. A
differential type manometer is without an atmospheric surface and capable of measuring only differences
of pressure. A piezometer is the simplest form of open manometer. It is a tube tapped into a wall of
container on conduit for the purpose of measuring pressure. The fluid in the container or conduit rises in
this tube to form a free surface.

In the second part of the experiment, the weight density of the kerosene shall be acquired by the
forumula:
ℎ𝑤 𝛾𝑤
𝛾𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑒 = ℎ𝑘
---------------------------------------------------- (2)

Where hw is the height of water, 𝛾𝑤 is the density of the water, and hk is the height of the kerosene.

II. OBJECTIVES

To determine densities and specific gravities using a hydrometer and a manometer.

III. SKETCH OF APPARATUS

A. Off Hydrometer Jars – the vessels where the 4 liquids rest.

 B. Universal Hydrometer - is an instrument used to measure the specific gravity or relative density of
liquids, i.e. the ratio of the density of the liquid to the density of water.

C. Manometer - is a device to measure pressures. A common simple manometer consists of a U shaped

tube of glass filled with some liquid.

IV. LABORATORY PROCEDURE

TECHNICAL DATA:

Density of water 𝛾𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 = 9810 𝑁/𝑚3

PROCEDURE (DETERMINATION OF SPECIFIC GRAVITY USING HYDROMETER)

1. Fill one hydrmeter jar with sufficient water to float the hydrometer and check that the scale
marking corresponding to depth of immersion reads 1.00.

2. Fill three hydrometer jars with the liquids to be tested with sufficient of the liquids to float the
hydrometer and note for each liquid the scale reading.

Column Unit Nom. Type Description

Heading
Specific S Measured The specific gravity of each liquids was
Gravity measured using a hydrometer.
 PROCEDURE (DETERMINATION OF SPECIFIC GRAVITY USING A MANOMETER)

1. Set up the manometer.

2. Place water to the tube.
3. Place kerosene after you places the water.
4. Record the reading of the pressure head.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the succeeding trial.
6. Solve for the specific gravity.

Column Unit Nom. Type Description

Heading
Specific S Measured The specific gravity of each liquids was
Gravity measured using a hydrometer.
Height of m hw Measured The height of the water is measured after
water kerosene was added in the manometer.
Height of m hk Measured The height of the kerosene is measured after it
kerosene was added in the manometer.

V. RESULTS

𝜸𝒘 hw hk
1 (KN/m3) (m) (m)
Sw Sk

1 9.81 0.098 0.123 1 0.7967

2 9.81 0.105 0.120 1 0.875

3 9.81 0.137 0.142 1 0.9648

𝜸𝒘 hw hk
2 (KN/m3) (m) (m)
Sw Sk

1 9.81 0.130 0.143 1 0.909

2 9.81 0.105 0.120 1 0.875

3 9.81 0.095 0.123 1 0.772

𝜸𝒘 hw hk
3 (KN/m3) (m) (m)
Sw Sk

1 9.81 0.134 0.141 1 0.98

2 9.81 0.105 0.120 1 0.875

3 9.81 0.096 0.123 1 0.78

 𝜸𝒘 hw hk
4 (KN/m3) (m) (m)
Sw Sk

1 9.81 0.103 0.12 1 0.858

2 9.81 0.131 0.141 1 0.929

3 9.81 0.094 0.123 1 0.764

𝜸𝒘 hw hk
5 (KN/m3) (m) (m)
Sw Sk

1 9.81 0.133 0.140 1 0.95

2 9.81 0.095 0.125 1 0.76

3 9.81 0.104 0.120 1 0.867

VI. SAMPLE COMPUTATION

For Kerosene:

Given:
𝛾𝑤 = 9810 𝑁/𝑚3
hw = 0.098
hk = 0.123
𝛾𝑘(𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑) = 0.79

Solution:

ℎ𝑤 𝛾𝑤 (.098)(9.81)
𝛾𝑘 = ℎ𝑘
= (0.123)
= 𝟕. 𝟖𝟏𝟔𝟏 𝑲𝑵/𝒎𝟑

7.8161
𝑆𝑘 = 9.81
= 𝟎. 𝟕𝟗𝟔𝟕

|0.7967−0.79|
%𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = 0.79
𝑥100% = 𝟎. 𝟖𝟒𝟖%
VII. CONCLUSION

After conducting both parts of the experiment, the team was able to collect sufficient data to determine
the specific gravities and densities of 4 different kinds of liquids with using the hydrometer. As for the
second part of the experiment, a manometer was used to be able to acquire the specific gravity of the
kerosene by means of using the pressure on both open ends after the kerosene was poured inside the
manometer.

To sum all things up, the team concludes that the specific gravity of a certain liquid may actually be
acquired by using a manometer and analyzing the properties of both fluids that was compared. Moreover,
the team concludes that this method produces almost the same value as that of the hydrometer as the
team achieved a 0.848% error for this experiment.

VIII. APPLICATION TO ENGINEERING

Specific gravity plays a vital role in the field of civil engineering. In this field, all buildings, roads, or any
other infrastructures are built on soil. Specific gravity of the soil helps you to find out the density, porosity,
void ratio, degree of saturation. All these factors help in determining the quality of soil, whether it is good
to be used for construction purposes or not.

IX. REFERENCE

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/density-specific-weight-gravity-d_290.html

https://faraday.physics.utoronto.ca/PVB/Harrison/Manometer/Manometer.html

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-use-of-specific-gravity-in-civil-field