BAKU HIGHER OIL SCHOOL

Petrolium Engineering Department

Process Industries A

LABORATORY REPORT #3

Experiment: Specific Volume or Density Changes of Water as

a Function of Temperature

Name: Emil Rahimov

Group №: 20.2 PE

Date of Experiment: 15.12.2021

Date of Submission: 22.12.2021

Instructor: Hajar Nabiyeva

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Contents
Abstract....................................................................................................................3
Introduction.............................................................................................................3
Theory.......................................................................................................................4
Experimental Details...............................................................................................5
Apparatus...............................................................................................................5
Procedure...............................................................................................................6
Result........................................................................................................................7
Discussion.................................................................................................................9
Conclusion................................................................................................................9
References..............................................................................................................11

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Abstract
The main purpose of this experiment is to determine the density or specific volume of
water at certain temperatures provided that the pressure is at 1 atm. As it is known,
objects expand when they are given heat, so does water and at different temperatures it
has altered density depending on temperature. Furthermore, in this experiment several
apparatus and formulas had been used and increasing the temperature of water
gradually, its density was measured. The scientific reason for this phenomenon will be
explained further in the Theory section. Moreover, for the boiling point of water, which is
100 celsius at 1 atmospheric pressure, the density and specific volume of water is
evaluated to be 969.72 kg /m3 and 0.001031 m3 /kg, respectively.

Introduction
Generally, thermal expansion can be calculated in three dimensions each having its
specific formula. For instance for 1 dimension: ΔL=αLΔT , for 2: ΔA =2 αAΔT and for 3
dimension: ΔV =3 αVΔT , where L, A and V are length, area and volume correspondingly,
being with delta are their changes, α is coefficient of thermal expansion and is specific
for each substance and ΔT is change in temperature. Having found the alterations, they
m
can be put in the density formula (for liquids in 3 dimension: ) in order to find
V +∆ V
density [2].
In terms of real-life applications, for instance, as a matter of fact, gasoline is kept inside
the underground tanks whose temperatures are varied depending on the season and
weather; when it is summer, tank’s temperature will escalate and in winter vice-versa
which will ultimately affect the temperature of gasoline and also the volume it occupies.
Moreover, as the gasoline takes much more space due to expansion, in summer fuel
ends up faster than in winter. Furthermore, while constructing bridges and rail roads
thermal expansion is taken into account, if not, alteration in weather and material
temperature can cause certain deformation aftermath [2].
With regard to the experiment itself, temperature-density graph was prepared and the
slope was linear which means the density or specific volume is proportional to the
temperature change.

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Theory
It is proven that not only water or liquid, but matter in all 3 states can be affected by heat
in terms of volume it occupies. The scientific reason behind this circumstance is that
before giving any heat, atoms or molecules of the matter are generally fixed in their
places. However, the moment they receive external energy, these atoms or molecules
start vibrating much more intensely – which requires extra space for each individual
particle and thus, distances among them get larger; therefore, objects expand and
density decreases [1] . The specific volume is the reciprocal of the density of the
material (1).
With respect to the experiment conducted, it is obvious that the density or specific
volume of water is linearly dependent from temperature (Graph 1), however, near the
freezing point there is some curve (Graph 2):

Graph 1: Density-Temperature Dependence of Water,

www.researchgate.net

Graph 2: Density-Temperature dependence of water at very low temperatures

[1].

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That means when the temperature of water is at 4 degrees of celsius, its density
becomes 1 g /cm 3 which is the highest and happens due to intermolecular forces.

As the task was to find density of water at 100 °C and the water was heated near 60 °C,
formula of Extrapolation will be needed:

x−x1
y ( x ) = y 1+ ( y − y 1) (2)
x 2−x 1 2

Experimental Details
Apparatus
Image 1:
Thermometers,
carlroth.com

Image 2: Density Image 3: Hydrometer, profilab24.com

bottle, indiamart.com

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Procedure

To begin, all the Having measured the

Then density bottle is
apparatus that are temperature,
filled with water and
mentioned in the hydrometer was put
its temperature was
previous section were into bottle in ordet to
measured
prepared evaluate its density

In the subsequent All the data obtained

Then again
stage, bottle was put were noted and this
thermometer was put
onto heater and its process continued till
into the bottle and
temperature was the moment when the
temperature was
escalated about 5-10 water reached near 60
evaluated
celsius celsius

Last but not least, all

the apparatus were
cleansed and dried
carefully

Result
Data obtained from the experiment:

Table 1: Density and Specific Volume of water at different

temperatures (from the Experiment)

T1 (°C) T2 (°C) Taverage ρ (kg/m3) v (m3/kg)

21 20 20.5 997.5 0.001003

34 33 33.5 995 0.001005

43.3 42.5 42.9 991 0.001009

52.5 51 51.75 986 0.001014

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 63.5 60.5 62 983 0.001017

Looking at the Table 1, it is obvious that temperature was measured twice: before
putting hydrometer and after it. Therefore, average temperature found by adding them
together and dividing by 2. Then as the goal was to find the density of water at 100
degrees celsius formula of Extrapolation (2) was used and arbitrary 2 values were
chosen from the Graph 3:

Graph 3: Temperature-Density function of water (experiment)

1000

995
Density (kg/m3)

990

985

980

975
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
Temperature (C)

Graph 4: Temperature-Specific Volume function of water

(experiment)
0.001020

0.001015
Specific Volume (m3/kg)

0.001010

0.001005

0.001000

0.000995
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
Temperature (C)

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Density of water at 100 °C:

100−20.5
y ( 100 )=997.5+ ( 983−997.5 )=969.72kg /m3
62−20.5

And the specific volume at this temperature is (1):

1
v= =0.001031m3 /kg
969.72

Theoretical value for density of water at 100 °C : 958.65 kg /m3

Absolute error: |958.65−969.72|=11.07

11.07
Relative error: ∗100 %=1.15 %
958.65

Discussion
To begin with, while conducting the experiment, it is clear that the temperature was
measured twice. The reason for this particular circumstance is that the moment
hydrometer was put onto the water so as to measure the density, heat exchange occurs
between water and hydrometer device which without a doubt would affect the final
result; therefore, 2 temperature values were noted and their average was calculated
and taken into account. Looking at the Graph 3 and 4, mild curves can be noticed which
are the consequences of certain errors, for instance, as the difference between the
temperature of water and air was increasing, heat exchange between them was
intensifying and the temperature of water was starting to decline at a much faster rate
resulting some temperature deviation and ultimately, density error. Also low temperature
of density bottle was one of the deviation-inducing factor.

Furthermore, the slopes on Graph 3 and 4 were assumed as linear and so as to find the
density or the specific volume at 100 degree celsius, formula of Extrapolation was

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utilized; this equation generally used to ‘predict’ what can be the result of the unknown
part using the known portion and it takes only two arbitrary point on the slope.

With respect to the errors had been made, it would be better if the density bottle was
heated beforehand as well as hydrometer. Moreover, overall the procedure should be
conducted much faster due to the fact that almost every second the water lose heat and
its temperature decreases. As the density changes little amounts compared to
temperature change and the number in the denominator of relative error formula is
greater, the final error became a tiny 1.15%.

Conclusion
The main aim of this experiment is to find the density or specific volume of water at
100°C using temperature-density function, which is linear, with the help of extrapolation
formula. Furthermore, temperature of water was increased by 5-10°C , after measuring
its temperature using thermometer and evaluating density via hydrometer. This cycle
continued until the moment when water reached nearly 60°C. Temperature-density
function of materials is mainly used in construction and filling tanks with various liquid
substances so as to take preventive measures against the consequences may occur
due to thermal expansion. With respect to the experiment conducted, having less than
2% error percentage, it was done successfully.

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References
1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zq7t4j6/revision/2

2. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/physics/chapter/13-2-thermal-expansion-of-
solids-and-liquids/

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