MCAT Physical : Density

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for MCAT Physical

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Example Questions

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Example Question #86 : Ap Physics 2

Water has a density of  at a temperature of . An certain oil has a specific gravity of  at this temperature. What is the mass of of the oil?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The formula for density is:

Specific gravity is the density of a material relative to the density of water.

We are given the specific gravity of the oil and the density of water, allowing us to calculate the density of the oil.

Returning to the equation for density, we can use the density of the oil to find the mass on one liter.

Example Question #87 : Ap Physics 2

A given iceberg floats such that 90% of its volume is below water. Supposing that the iceberg is composed of pure water, what is the density of the saltwater in which the iceberg floats?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

We can solve this question by using a density ratio, given by the equation:

We know the density of ice, and we can find the ratio of the densities by using buoyancy. If the iceberg were completely submerged, then we could conclude that the density of the ice was equal to the density of the salt water. Since the iceberg is 90% submerged, we can conclude that the density of the ice is 90% of the density of the salt water.

Use this ratio and the density of ice to solve for the density of the salt water.

Example Question #11 : Fluids And Gases

A researcher performs an elemental analysis on a compound. He finds that the compound is made up of only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms. He isolates a pure sample of the compound and finds that this sample contains  of carbon,  of hydrogen, and  of oxygen. The researcher wants to perform further analysis on this compound the next day. Before leaving the lab the researcher creates three stock solutions of varying concentrations of this compound:  (solution A),  (solution B), and  (solution C). He stores these solutions overnight at a temperature of .

Molecular weight of this compound =

Which of the following is true regarding the densities of the three stock solutions?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Density is a measure of concentration, defined as mass per unit volume.

Since the stock solutions contain different concentrations, the density of each solution must be different. The solution with the highest concentration will contain the highest density, and the solution with lowest concentration will contain the lowest density. The order of increasing density is solution A, solution B, and solution C. Solution C is the most concentrated and will contain the greatest amount of mass per unit volume, followed by solution B and solution A.

Remember that concentration can be defined in various ways: molarity, molality, mass percent, density, etc. Increasing concentration means you are increasing all of these quantities. Also remember that the density of the compound remains the same in each solution; only the solutions, as a whole, have different densities.

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