Form 1 Science

Lecture 2
TOPIC: DENSITY

Recall:

 Matter is anything which occupies space and has mass.

 Volume is the amount of space that a substance / object occupies. Measured in m3 or cm3.
 Mass is the amount of matter in an object. Measured in kg or g
 Weight of an object is a measure of the gravitational force acting on it. Measured in
Newtons (N).

What is DENSITY?

Let’s look at an example:

Both oil and water are liquids that are made up of matter. However, oil floats on water, why?

Video link: Density - Why does oil float on water? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSXTBnnx4OA

The ratio of the amount of matter to the space it occupies is defined as density.

Density is defined as the mass per unit volume of an object / substance.

It is measured in the SI unit: kilogram per metre-cubed ( kg / m3) or its non SI-unit: gram
per centimetre-cubed ( g / cm3).

Exercise 1:

If we were to drop the following objects in a pool, which items will float and which items would
sink? Fill out the table by placing a tick (√ ):

ITEMS FLOAT SINK

Pencil
Magnet
Egg carton
Feather
Beach ball
Glass marble
Shoe lace
 Objects that have more mass per unit volume has more density (more dense) and sinks.

Objects with less mass per unit volume has less density (less dense) and floats.

How can density be calculated?

Density is given by the formula: To find mass = density x volume

𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔
Density = To find volume = 𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚
𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆

For example, if a toy car has a mass of 47 g and occupies a volume of 5 cm3 ,what is its density?
𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔
Since, density =
𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆
𝟒𝟕
=
𝟓

= 9 g / cm3

Exercise 2:

The table below shows the density, mass and volume of different objects. Calculate the
value of X, Y and Z.
Home-Assignment