Look closely at the picture below. It shows the densities of some common substances. As you can see, some objects float in water and other sink. Now pretend that this picture represents a small portion of the ocean. Floating on this ocean is a steel oil tanker filled with crude oil. Suddenly the tanker runs aground on a reef. A huge Hole in torn in the ship’s hull. Oil gushes out of the ship into the water. This could be a major environmental disaster. Assume that the crude oil has the same density as the corn oil.

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1. Why does the oil pose a great danger?
   

   
   

   
   

2. Is the danger greater to birds and marine mammals than it is to fish and other organisms that live on the ocean bottom?
   

   
   

   
   

3. How is the density of oil an advantage in the cleanup?
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

4. Why would an oil spill be an even greater disaster if the density of oil were the same as that of corn syrup?
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

5. When object “Y” was placed on a triple beam balance the 3 weights were at 100g, 20g and 5.5g. Then “Y” was placed in a graduated cylinder. The water was at 30mL, and after object “Y” was dropped in the water was at 37mL. What is the density of object “Y”?
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

6. If 96.5g of aluminum has a volume of 35cm3, what is the density of aluminum? How does its density compare with the density of gold?
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

7. If the density of a diamond is 3.5g/cm3, what would be the mass of a diamond whose volume is 0.5 cm3?
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

8. If the density of a certain plastic used to make a bracelet is 0.78g/cm3, what mass would a bracelet of 4cm3 have? Would this bracelet float or sink in water?
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

9. The common metal iron pyrite is often called fool’s gold because it can be mistaken for gold. Design an experiment to determine whether a particular sample is iron pyrite or real gold.
   

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