Questions: A chemist working as a safety inspector finds an unmarked bottle in a lab cabinet. A note on the door of the cabinet says the cabinet is used to store bottles of methyl acetate, acetone, tetrahydrofuran, carbon tetrachloride, and dimethyl sulfoxide.
The chemist plans to try to identify the unknown liquid by measuring the density and comparing to known densities. First, from her collection of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), the chemist finds the following information:
liquid density
methyl acetate 0.93 g/mL
acetone 0.79 g/mL
tetrahydrofuran 0.89 g/mL
carbon tetrachloride 1.6 g/mL
dimethyl sulfoxide 1.1 g/mL
Next, the chemist measures the volume of the unknown liquid as 1489 cm^3 and the mass of the unknown liquid as 1.05 kg.
Calculate the density of the liquid. Be sure your answer has the correct number of significant digits. g / mL
Given the data above, is it possible to identify the liquid?
yes
no
If it is possible to identify the liquid, do so.
methyl acetate
acetone
tetrahydrofuran
Transcript text: A chemist working as a safety inspector finds an unmarked bottle in a lab cabinet. A note on the door of the cabinet says the cabinet is used to store bottles of methyl acetate, acetone, tetrahydrofuran, carbon tetrachloride, and dimethyl sulfoxide.
The chemist plans to try to identify the unknown liquid by measuring the density and comparing to known densities. First, from her collection of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), the chemist finds the following information:
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|}
\hline liquid & density \\
\hline methyl acetate & $0.93 \frac{\mathrm{~g}}{\mathrm{~mL}}$ \\
\hline acetone & $0.79 \frac{\mathrm{~g}}{\mathrm{~mL}}$ \\
\hline tetrahydrofuran & $0.89 \frac{\mathrm{~g}}{\mathrm{~mL}}$ \\
\hline carbon tetrachloride & $1.6 \frac{\mathrm{~g}}{\mathrm{~mL}}$ \\
\hline dimethyl sulfoxide & $1.1 \frac{\mathrm{~g}}{\mathrm{~mL}}$ \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
Next, the chemist measures the volume of the unknown liquid as $1489 . \mathrm{cm}^{3}$ and the mass of the unknown liquid as 1.05 kg .
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|}
\hline \begin{tabular}{l}
Calculate the density of the liquid. Be sure \\
your answer has the correct number of \\
significant digits.
\end{tabular} & 自 $\mathrm{g} / \mathrm{mL}$ \\
\hline \begin{tabular}{l}
Given the data above, is it possible to \\
identify the liquid?
\end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{l}
\begin{tabular}{l}
$O$ yes \\
O no
\end{tabular}
\end{tabular} \\
\hline \begin{tabular}{l}
If it is possible to identify the liquid, do so.
\end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{l}
methyl acetate \\
acetone \\
tetrahydrofuran
\end{tabular} \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
Solution
Solution Steps
Step 1: Calculate the Density of the Unknown Liquid
To find the density of the unknown liquid, we use the formula for density:
Compare the calculated density of the unknown liquid (0.7058 g/mL) with the known densities from the table:
Methyl acetate: 0.93 g/mL
Acetone: 0.79 g/mL
Tetrahydrofuran: 0.89 g/mL
Carbon tetrachloride: 1.6 g/mL
Dimethyl sulfoxide: 1.1 g/mL
The calculated density (0.7058 g/mL) does not match any of the known densities. Therefore, it is not possible to identify the liquid based on the given data.