The Density of a Human Body: An Eighth Grade Experiment

Purpose: To calculate the density of a human body.

Hypothesis: The density of the human body will be close to that of water, 1.0 g/cm3.

Materials: Four willing eighth grade students, a trash can, the collecting pool, multiple graduated cylinders, bathroom scale, buckets, water.

Procedure:

1: First, find the mass of the two people (victims).

2: Fill the trash can full with warm water, all the way up to the brim. The trash can should be inside the collecting pool.

3: Slowly, using a piece of wood as a support, lower the first person into the trash can.

4: After all of the water has spilled out, slowly lift the person out of the trash can and place them in the small bucket to "drip".

5: To now calculate the volume the rest of the class will use buckets and graduated cylinders. Carefully measure the amount of water that spilled out of the trash can.

6. When all of the spilled water is measured, using water from the tap, measure the amount of water needed to bring the trash can up to its original level. Added up, THIS is the volume of the victim.

7. Calculate density by dividing the mass by the volume.

DATA

Victim 1

Victim 2

MASS

39, 545 g

38,636 g

VOLUME

35,025 cm3

33,089 cm3

DENSITY

1.13g/cm3

1.17g/cm3

Victim 3

Victim 4

MASS

38,409 g

38,636 g

VOLUME

36,000 cm3

35,000 cm3

DENSITY

1.10 g/gm3

1.07 g/cm3

OBSERVATIONS AND ANALYSES OF ERROR

The experiment was very fast. When the people went into the bucket, a lot of water came out. At times it looked like a waterfall. As soon as the person came out of the water, the scoopers went to work. They all worked together to get the job done fast. When victim 3 came up, she went down again to fix her hair. This caused additional water spillage. At times we lost water, when it was spilled. Also, there was less than precise measuring of the 500 ml because there was so much water. Also, the scale was old and inaccurate. This could have caused the mass to be off .

PICTURES

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

Next victim!

It's important to get all the way under water to get the correct displacement.

No Spilling!

Nice Job Everyone!!!