Determining the Density of Some Recyclable Plastics:

Specific Safety Concerns: Today you will be working with cut pieces of commercial
plastics and water. They pose no chemical hazards, but the plastic pieces can be sharp
and are consequently cutting hazards. Additionally, the devices used to measure the
densities, the pycnometers, are fragile and, if parts break, their broken surfaces can be
cutting hazards. So be careful about touching sharp surfaces. If you cut yourself, rinse
the wound thoroughly and ask your TA to get you a bandage.

Background Material:
Density is the ratio of mass to volume for a given material. It is an intensive property of
a material – that is, it is independent of the amount of material present. Indeed, if one
looks all the way down to the atomic level one still sees the same density (so long as you
continue to look at a number of atoms that represents the overall composition and
structure of the material).

Knowledge of density is useful in a variety of ways:

- identifying an unknown material,
- verifying a material’s purity,
- converting a knowledge of volume to mass and vice versa,
- understanding how atoms are packed together.

In addition to learning to make density determinations, in today’s experiment we will

think about how density differences can be used to separate different materials.
Specifically, we’ll look at the separation of some of some commonly recycled plastics,
The stuff you put in your recycling bin may be separated by a group of folks sitting by a
conveyor belt looking for the little recycling triangles and sorting the plastic bottles as
they move past. They also may be separated in a slightly more sophisticated manner, such
as separation using “sink-float tanks”. In such devices a liquid is chosen such that one
kind of plastic will float in it but the others will sink (Andrady, Anthony L. Plastics and
the Environment. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2003). You should think about what
sort of properties a solution should have if it is to allow one plastic to sink and another
to float. We will use CaCl2 solutions to accomplish this task.

[Much more sophisiticated techniques are being developed that can use spectroscopic
analysis. (See for instance, Wahab, D.A., Hussain, A., Scavino, E., Mustafa, M.M., and
Basri, H. “Development of a prototype automated sorting system for plastic recycling”,
American Journal of Applied Sciences, 3(7): 1924-1928 , 2006.)]

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Today you will determine the densities of several plastics by measuring the sample’s
mass and dividing by its volume determined in a complicated application of
displacement. The mass measurement is easy and straightforward; but the volume
measurement is more involved.

In an experiment like this, the volume measurement is commonly made by determining

how much of a fluid is displaced by the object. Often a graduated cylinder is used, and a
volume reading is made before and after the object is placed in the cylinder; the
difference is taken as the volume of the object. This procedure is easy, but since the
diameter of the graduated cylinder is fairly large, the precision of such a measurement is
not great.

Today we will use a device known as a pycnometer. It is desirable because it is provides

a very reproducible volume. The key is that the diameter of the tube determining the
liquid level is quite small, so the precision of the volume is quite high. The pycnometer
we will use is shown below at various stages in its use – (1) with the two pieces
separated, (2) assembled and filled with water, and (3) assembled and filled with the
sample and water.

In the figure on the far left, there is an excess of fluid (water in our case). When the two
pieces are put together, the excess fluid squirts out the small tube, leaving it filled to the
top. Since the two pieces fit together so well, there is a very reproducible volume trapped
inside. In figure (3), a solid sample is in the pycnometer with water, and the volume of
the sample plus the water is that same as the volume of water trapped in figure (2).

To determine the volume of a sample, one

weighs the pycnometer first empty then filled
with water, as in figure (2) . One can then use
the known density of water to determine the
volume inside the pycnometer. One then puts
a solid sample in the pycnometer, fills it with
water, closes it and weighs it. If one knows
the mass of the sample, then the mass of the
water can be easily determined, and from that
the volume of the water can be determined.
The volume of the sample is then determined
by subtracting the volume of water trapped
with the sample from the volume of the water.

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Watch out for Mistakes:

To determine a sample’s density one typically measures its mass and its volume and
divides the two numbers. And that’s basically what we will do today. One key aspect to
keep in mind is to make sure you are measuring the mass of just the sample (nothing
stuck to it like water), and that you are measuring the volume of just the sample (and
nothing stuck to it like bubbles). A good experimental scientist not only minimizes
mistakes, but also knows how the various mistakes may affect the answer. For instance,
bubbles stuck on a submerged sample will not change the mass of the object, but they
will increase its apparent volume; so dividing a correct mass by too-large of a volume
will give a result that is smaller than it should be. Similarly, if you make a good volume
measurement but decide to weigh the object afterwards when it is still a little wet, then
dividing the too-large mass by the correct volume will give a density result that is larger
than it should be.

Be prepared to figure out how different mistakes can affect your answer.

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Important Lab Techniques: Mass Measurement

We will be using electronic balances for mass measurements in this course. Strictly
speaking, a scale or electronic balance measures the force due to gravity on the object of
interest, and as a result this is more appropriately referred to as “weight”. The manner in
which the instrument is calibrated converts the display number to a “mass” unit, so
sometimes the procedure is referred to as “massing” rather than “weighing”.

Using an electronic balance simply involves placing objects to be weighed on the balance
pan and reading the number off the display. However, there are several things to watch
out for in order to ensure accurate readings.
- make sure the balance is level by checking the bubble gauge. If the balance
gets moved, it frequently becomes out-of-level.
- Do not weigh objects directly on the pan. Rather, use a piece of weighing
paper or some sort of appropriate container (small beaker). You want to make
sure that any foreign matter on the pan doesn’t get on your sample, and you
want to make sure your sample doesn’t contaminate the pan.

We have several different types of electronic balances in the labs, but they are all
operated similarly.
- make sure the pan is clean, i.e. no powder or liquid on it. If it is not clean,
brush it off with the brush that should be nearby, or wipe it off gently with a
paper towel. Ideally the power to the balance should be off during any wiping
or brushing.
- Whenever a weighing is to take place, make sure the balance doors are closed
and the objects are close to room temperature. Small air currents can affect
the readings.
- Zero or “tare” the balance by pushing the appropriate button. Wait until the
display shows zero. You can do this with the weighing paper or empty beaker
on the pan; by doing so, you can avoid having to subtract out the weight of the
paper or beaker later; just make sure no one else tares the balance before you
put your sample on the balance.
- Handle the sample carefully, being careful not to leave finger prints etc on the
object. Put the object on the paper or in the beaker and place it on the pan,
The display will show the weight of interest.
- Remove everything from the pan and make sure you leave the balance clean.

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Important Lab Techniques: Using Reproducible Volumes

When using graduated glassware to measure out volumes, the precision of your
measurement depends on your ability to put the meniscus of the fluid just barely touching
the top of the graduation. Any inaccuracy in the height of the meniscus relative to where
it should be will lead to an error in the desired volume, and that difference will probably
just be a reflection of your eyesight and manual dexterity, not the width of the graduated
tube you are using. The volume difference between what you measure out and what you
wanted will be the height inaccuracy of the meniscus multiplied by the area of the
graduated vessel at the point of the graduation you are using. Since your ability to match
up the meniscus and the graduation is probably no better with a fat piece of glassware
(like a beaker) than a skinny one (like a volumetric pipette), the volume error you will
make with a fat piece of glassware will be much larger than with a skinny one, simply
because the cross-sectional areas of the glassware are very different.

The important lesson here is that if you want the most precise volume measurements,
you need to use the thinnest graduated glassware you can find (usually a volumetric
pipette), and you need to be very picky about getting the meniscus to the top of the
graduation.

In today’s lab, you are effectively placing the level of the fluid at the very top of a very
skinny tube. You aren’t measuring a specific volume using a graduation on the tube, but
you are making a reproducible volume by allowing the level of the fluid to go to the top
of the tube each time. That precision of reproducing that volume is closely related to the
thickness of the tube, for the same reasons that the thickness of graduated tubes are
important for precise volume measurements with graduated glassware.

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Determining the Volume of a Sample today:

To determine the density today you will measure the mass of a sample and divide it by
the volume. The volume will be determined by taking the volume of the pycknometer
and subtracting from it the volume of water trapped in the pycknometer when filled with
both water and the sample.

A worked example will make a bit more sense.

Consider the following set of values:

Mass sample: 8.743g

Mass pycnometer: 34.045g

Mass pycnometer + water: 46.229g (this is the average of several weights)
Mass pycnometer+sample+water: 52.077g (this is the average of several weights)
Density of water: 0.9977g/mL

1mL
The volume of the pycnometer is … ( 46.229 g  34.045g )  0.9977 g  12.21mL

The volume of water trapped along with the sample is…

1mL
[(52.077 g  34.045g )  8.743g ]   9.310mL
0.9977 g

The volume of the sample is consequently…

12.21mL  9.31mL  2.90mL

and the density of the sample is…

8.743g g
 3.01
2.90mL mL

Alternatively…
mass sample mass
density  
volme (vol pyck  vol H 2 O with sample)
8.743g

1mL 1mL
[(46.229 g  34.045g )   (52.077 g  34.045g  8.743g )  ]
0.9977 g 0.9977 g

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Procedure: (Remember to record your observations, readings, and calculations in
your lab notebook)

1) Select a plastic sample, and accurately weigh out 2.5-4g. The sample needs to be dry
before weighing it.

2) Weigh the dry pycknometer. Repeat, to make absolutely positively sure it is right.

3) Fill the pycknometer with water. Do what you need to do to dislodge any bubbles.
Assemble the pycknometer, squirting the excess water out the top. Dry off the water
from the outside using a paper towel, and weigh it. You will need something on the
balance pan to hold the pycnometer upright when weighing it. You figure it out.

3a) Calculate the pycknometer volume using each set of masses. If they are not within
0.02mL, repeat step three until you have 3 sets of data that give volumes within 0.02mL.

4) Disassemble the pycknometer, refill with water, reassemble, dry, and weigh. Repeat.

5) Empty the pycknometer then put your plastic sample in it, fill with with water,
dislodge any bubbles, assemble, dry the outside, and weigh it all.

6) Disassemble the pycknometer (leave the sample in it), refill with water, reassemble,
dry, and weigh. Repeat.

6a) Calculate the sample volume using each set of masses and the average pycknometer
volume from step 3). If they are not within 0.05mL, repeat step three until you have 3
sets of data that give volumes within 0.05mL.

7) Use the average values from the volume determinations to calculate the sample
density.

8) Share your density values with the class (you will be told exactly how).

9) Participate in the CaCl2 solution density determination. Your instructor will oversee
this part.

10) Collect the class’s CaCl2 results and plot the solution density vs CaCl2 concentration.

11) Include the class density measurements on the y-axis of your plot – use a different
marker shape for each plastic. Create additional series that will draw horizontal lines on
the plot to show the high and low density values for each plastic. You are free to
eliminate result you deem is an outlier.

12) Decide what CaCl2 concentrations could be used to separate the different plastics.

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In addition to minimizing your mistakes, you should also worry about being a good
citizen of the lab. Make sure you are not damaging any equipment or leaving it in a
condition unsuitable for someone else to use. In this lab this means cleaning up
anything that might spill in or around the balances, and returning the samples to the
appropriate locations.

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Be sure your lab report includes….

… an abstract of what you and your class achieved in this lab.

… data tables including the important masses, volumes, and density determinations.

… a sample calculation using an equation editor.

… A plot showing the class’s data for Density vs %CaCl2, and the densities of the
plastics. (Remember you may exclude data that appears to be substantially apart from the
rest of the data.) Indicate what the plot say about the CaCl2 concentrations that would be
suitable to separate a mixture of the plastics ?

… answers to the following questions:

1) If the mass of the pycknometer + sample + water was exactly the same as the mass of
the pycknometer + water. What do you know about the density of the sample? Explain.

2) If you weigh the dry pycknometer as 39.1188g, but you accidentally write down
39.8811g, then use the incorrect number in all your calculations (all the other weights
were written correctly), what would be the impact on the calculated density of your
sample? Explain.

3) What if you trapped some bubbles in the weights with the sample, but your weights
without the sample were bubble-free ? Would your reported density be too large or too
small ? Explain.