Hydrostatic properties of fluids.

Objective
To determine the density and specific gravity of a fluid, and demonstrate the capillary effect that occurs
in various tubes and plates.

Apparatus
From the ‘hydrostatic properties of fluid bench’ you will need.

1. Triple beam balance

2. 100 ml beakers
3. Density bottle 25ml & 50ml
4. Test fluids
5. Acrylic tank
6. Acrylic plates
7. Glass capillary tubes with bores of 0.8 mm, 1.0 mm, 1.5 mm, 2.0 mm
8. Plastic shim materials, to fill the gaps.
9. Hook and point gauge

Triple beam balance, density bottle and capillary rise apparatus.

Procedure
A. Density and specific gravity using beakers
1. Use the triple-beam balance to weigh the mass of the empty graduated beaker (m0) then fill the
beaker with a small amount of test fluid and read the volume, (V1) in ml .
2. Now find the total mass, (m1). Add more fluid and note the total mass for the volume of fluid.
3. Find the density,  = (m0 - m1)/V1 and the specific gravity, SG = /water.
 Sample fluid Liquid A Liquid B
m0 (kg)
m1 (kg)
V1 (m3)
ρ(kg/m3)
SG

B. Density and specific gravity using density bottles

1. Weigh the dry density bottle and its attached glass stopper, (m1).
2. Fill the bottle with test liquid, replace the stopper, dry the bottle exterior using a cloth or tissue
and then weigh the density bottle and record the total mass, (m2).
3. Using the volume of fluid, V = 25.252cm3 (for 25ml bottle) and V = 51.741cm3 (for 50ml bottle)
calculate the density,  = (m2/V), & specific gravity, SG = density/density of water (no units).

Sample fluid Liquid A Liquid B

m1 (kg)
m2 (kg)
V (m3)
ρ(kg/m3)
SG

C. Capillary action
1. Fill the tank with sufficient amount of water and place the stainless steel mesh stand into the tank.
2. Place the 4 different bore size glass tubes in the holder and put it into the tank.
3. Prepare a shim with known thickness, clamp it in between 2 acrylic plates.
4. Similarly, insert the acrylic plates in the tank with its holder.
5. Record the level that water creeps up inside the tubes and plates with hook and point gauge. The
height level h, is measured from the surface of the tube/plate to the maximum water level in the
tube/plate.
6. Change the water with other liquids and repeat step (1) to step (5).
7. Plot the graph of Capillary action against different bore size for different test fluid.

Capillary Action
Bore size, Liquid A Liquid B
d (mm) h hd/4 for tube h hd/4 for tube
0.8
1
1.5
2

Discussion
In this experiment we are basically determining the density and specific gravity of two liquids A and B
using two different Methods. For method one firstly we measure the mass of empty beaker using
digital balance called mo, and then we pour liquid into the beaker for up to a specific volume that we
want to as the beaker is calibrated with volume written in milliliters on it. After that we measure the
mass of beaker again using digital balance called m1, and subtract both these masses to obtain the
actual mass of the liquid. Now to calculate density we use the formula density=Mass/Volume to
calculate it and for specific gravity we use the formula specific gravity= density of liquid/density of
water (which is 1000kg/m3)
Second method is using the density bottle For this one firstly we measure the mass of empty density
bottle using digital balance called mo, and then we pour liquid into the density bottle for up to the top
of the bottle and put the stopper in so the extra volume goes out and the capacity of density bottle is
100ml . After that we measure the mass of density bottle again using digital balance called m1, and
subtract both these masses to obtain the actual mass of the liquid. Now to calculate density we use the
formula density=Mass/Volume to calculate it and for specific gravity we use the formula specific
gravity= density of liquid/density of water(which is 1000kg/m3)
Some important observations are that when we fill the beaker or density bottle or beaker with one
liquid and then putting it with another first wash it with water and dry the beaker or bottle with a
piece of cloth for better accuracy
Another important result is that the density calculated using density bottle should be more accurate
than the beaker as mass has the same procedure for both but for volume density bottle is more
accurate.
The third experiment was to observe the effect of change in diameter of tube on cappilary effect.

Possible reasons of error are due to calibration or instrumental error in the digital balance and when
measuring the volume of liquid using beaker due to parallax error OR residue inside beaker.

Conclusion
In this experiment we basically measured the densities and specific gravity of two different liquids
and by using two different methods and found out that the method using density bottle is more
accurate.