Show students aluminum shavings and a rectangular aluminum slab. Have students test out their answer for density by finding the density of a rectangular aluminum slab at their lab station, recording their data and calculations in their lab notebook and then writing their experimentally determined density on the board. Determine the class average density for the aluminum slabs and compare it to the experimental value for the aluminum shavings that they determined in an earlier lab. Have a student look up the theoretical density for aluminum in the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics . Now have the students experimentally find the thickness of their piece of aluminum foil, recording data and calculations in their notebooks.
All groups have the same brand and thickness of foil.
Have a rolling pin and graduated cylinder available for students wishing to verify the volume by water displacement. Record their answers on the board and calculate the average. You are given a chunk of shiny silver-colored metal. D. Describe how the thickness of the metal in the side of an aluminum pop can can be determined. From the information printed on the box of the aluminum foil, describe how you might verify your experimentally determined foil thickness.