Simple and Low-Cost Setup for Measurement of the Density of a Liquid

Abstract

A low-cost and simple setup to measure the densities of liquids is introduced herein. The results and reliability of this setup were evaluated for pure liquids, water–ethanol binary mixtures, and aqueous NaCl solutions. The constructed densitometer provided density values with acceptable relative errors (less than ±3.0%), which were compared to estimates of density from the literature. The favorable agreement is surprising for such a simple and low-cost setup. The facile design lends itself to use in diverse teaching environments to reinforce the ubiquitous concept of density at the secondary-school level and for undergraduate physical-chemistry teaching laboratories.