Question

A gold‐colored ring is found to weigh 2.542 g at 20oC. The ring is dropped into a graduated cylinder filled with
water, and is found to displace 0.33 mL of liquid. If the density of 14 carat gold is 12.9 to 14.6 g/mL at 20oC, is
the ring made of gold? explain your answer.

Maybe I'm just misreading this question, but I don't understand how to go about this.. :/

Answer 1

You need to calculate the density of the gold-colored ring using the given mass and measured volume, and then compare that figure to the given density of 14 carat gold.

Use the following formula:

density of ring = (mass of ring) / (volume of ring)
density of ring = (2.542 g) / (0.33 mL)
density of ring = 7.6969696 g/mL or 7.7 g/mL rounded to two significant figures

Answer: The density of 14 carat gold starts at 12.9 g/mL, and the density of the ring is way below that figure. The only conclusion is that the ring is NOT made of gold.

Answer 2

@sunshinePoet

Answer 3

Oh wow I was totally overthinking that question as I tend to do so often! =S Thank you so much for your help!!