MARCH. 1950
A DENSITY EXPERIMENT S. PORTER MILLER Monmouth College, Monmouth, Illinois
DURINGthe first semester in General Chemistry, and graduates. It was found in a class of 56 freshmen following the experiment on the analytical balance, students that the average percentage error was 4.3 when students a t Monmouth College determine the per- the entire volume of the graduate was used, but only centage composition of an unknown sodium nitrate 1.7 when the first milliliter reading was rejected. solution by determining the density of the solution and This laboratory exercise combines accurate weighing, then reading off the percentage on a graph which they the contest motivation of an unknown, the construcalso prepare. tion and utilization of a graph, and illustrates a method The volume of the solution is measured in Cargille used in industrial analysis.
