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Penny Lab Write Up: Procedure For Graduated Cylinder

The student conducted an experiment to determine the effect of metal composition on penny density. Pennies made before 1982 were pure copper, while newer pennies contain both copper and zinc. The experiment measured the mass and volume of different numbers of pennies to calculate density. As expected, pure copper pennies were found to have a higher density than copper-zinc pennies, supporting the hypothesis that different metal compositions affect density.

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125 views3 pages

Penny Lab Write Up: Procedure For Graduated Cylinder

The student conducted an experiment to determine the effect of metal composition on penny density. Pennies made before 1982 were pure copper, while newer pennies contain both copper and zinc. The experiment measured the mass and volume of different numbers of pennies to calculate density. As expected, pure copper pennies were found to have a higher density than copper-zinc pennies, supporting the hypothesis that different metal compositions affect density.

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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Penny Lab Write Up

1. The effect of metal used to make pennies on penny density.


2. ABSTRACT :
For this experiment we are seeing the effects of the density by the metal that are used to make these pennies. But, can copper and
zinc effect how much is the density of a penny? If pennies are made of copper they will be more dense than pennies made of
zinc because coppers density is 8.9 which higher than zinc which is 7.1 . The dense will effect on how its made of with the two
metals rather than just copper, which is one metal. The procedure was to use the graduated cylinder to measure volume. Also, a
scale to measure the mass and calculate density. Which it turn out to be, we created a graph by plotting the points by using
y=mx+b. Our results were positive and not rejected because the effect of zinc has less dense tend do be lower with copper as
when the copper by itself has a higher dense than zinc.
3. INTRODUCTION :
We learn that density of copper is higher than zinc in our experiment because our results told us that the density of copper is 8.2
and is higher than zinc which is 7.3. Before 1982 pennies were made of copper they are much higher dense then the today
pennies made of zinc and copper. Also got to learn about density and how to get it by using mass/volume. But the most
important thing that I learn was how to measure mass and volume and calculate density. I saw that pennies made of copper have
more density than pennies that are made of zinc and copper.
4. QUESTION & HYPOTHESIS (2 sentences): Can copper and zinc effect how much is the density of a penny?
If pennies are made of copper they will be more dense than pennies made of copper and zinc because it made of two different
metals being put together in one penny. The dense will effect on how its made of with the two metals rather than just copper.
5. Materials :
- graduated cylinder
- scale
- water
- pennies
- weight boats
6. PROCEDURE :
Procedure for Pennies -

procedure of pennies
get 10 pennies from the pre 1982 labeled container
weight them with a scale by starting off with 1 penny, then adding 2 pennies, then kept going by
putting 5 pennies, 8 pennies, 10 pennies.
then we filled up the graduated cylinder with 10 g/ml of water and began measuring by putting the
amount of pennies into
collected the data
repeat the process for the post 1982 pennies
Procedure for Graduated Cylinder -

get a graduated cylinder and put on the table to see if you got the water exactly on what measurement
you want, like for example 10 g/ml
take a look to see the height and start getting one penny
take the graduated cylinder and lean it little forward to you, drop the penny slowly in order to not to
make wet mess

set on the table and read in the side measurement


collect data
repeat process for the next 2, 5, 8, and 10 total pennies
How to get the Density -

In order to get the density, you need divide mass to volume. The mass/volume is based on the pennies
with the data. So when getting the mass and volume you plug in y=mx+b to get the slope to make a graph.
7. RESULTS:
Graph 1 - Pre
1982
volume

Graph 1 -

Graph 2 -

Graph 2 -Post
1982
mass

volume

mass

0.1

3.1

0.9

2.5

0.5

6.1

1.6

15.3

12.5

2.8

24.5

20

3.4

30.6

3.9

24.9

The similarities of the two graphs is that their slope rises each time the pennies are added more in graduated cylinder, up 10
milliliters. To find the density, you need to divide the mass/volume in order to find it, so the density of copper is 8.2. Which is
higher than zinc with copper which is 7.3. With that results you can use to plot the points by the data in graph using y=mx+b in
order to find the density. Both graph show a comparison but likely not the same total density. The actual density of copper is 8.9
which is kinda close to results we got for copper that was 8.2. Also, the density of zinc is 7.13 and is pretty close to which we got
for zinc and was 7.3.
8. CONCLUSION :
My hypotheses was accepted because the data did result in being true of how two different kinds of metal being put together in a
penny, can change the density of a penny which what we experiment on a fully copper penny. The penny that was made with
fully copper had a higher density than the penny that was made by zinc and copper. Two mistakes that could have happened is
that we accidentally mistake the pennies that were copper rather than zinc with copper or the other way around. Another mistake
that could have happen is having more pennies than the number of pennies that you needed to have because it can effect the
dense. I really did have confidence on my results. and I believe we have enough data to find the density for each different penny.
We did compare with other results, we didnt had exactly the dense but we were close with the results. I dont think we made
errors but we check everything carefully.
My observation is that the pattern of a rising slope is based the amount of pennies being added an certain amount. By adding it,
it rises and makes a rising slope depending on the pennies. My findings were very interesting because I got to learn how to
experience using a scale, graduated cylinder, and calculating the dense of a penny of copper and a penny made of zinc. Also, I
think finding the dense was based on math which we used y=mx+b to find the slope. Finally, questions that came to my head
was, will the dense change if you add more copper pennies in the graduated cylinder? Are there other metals that have a higher
dense than copper pennies? What is a nickel made of? Can a nickel or quarter have a less dense than zinc ?
9. CITATIONS: NO CITATIONS !!!!

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