Mass the water

 Fill the container to capacity with water; add rocks to the container; collect the water that overflows and mass it.

Why this works:

• Volume is measured by displacement, not mass.

• When rocks are added to a full container of water, they push water out.

• The amount of water that overflows equals the volume of the rocks.

• This is based on the principle of water displacement.

• The rocks sink, so they displace their full volume of water.

👉 Key idea:
Displaced water volume = rock volume

uestion: 36 of 44

INCORRECT

• Time Remaining: 06:27:26

Which of the following methods could be used to determine how much volume is taken up by rocks placed in a container?

Mass the container; mass the container with the rocks in it; calculate the difference in these two masses.

MY ANSWER

This method will provide the mass of the rocks, not the volume.

Count the number of rocks; mass the rocks; then divide the mass of the rocks by the number of rocks.

This method will provide the average mass of each rock.

Fill the container to capacity with water; add rocks to the container; collect the water that overflows and mass it.

The volume of the container is approximated by filling it with water. Adding rocks to the container displaces an equal volume of water. Therefore, the water that spills out of the container will equal the volume of the rocks. This question assumes that the rocks are more dense than water.

Mass the container empty; fill it with the rocks and water; then mass it again and find the difference.

This method will provide the total mass of rocks and water, not the volume of rocks.