How do you determine the density of a gas?

1 Answer
Ernest Z.
Feb 13, 2014

One way to measure the density of a gas is to take a given volume of the gas and determine its mass.

For example, you could fill a syringe of known mass and volume with the gas and measure the mass of the gas.

#Density = (mass)/(volume)#

#EXAMPLE#

A syringe with a mass of 45.861 g is filled with 50.0 mL of carbon dioxide at the lab temperature and pressure (1.00 atm and 20 °C). If the empty syringe has a mass of 45.953 g, what is the density in grams per litre of the CO₂ under laboratory conditions?

Solution

Mass of CO₂ = (45.953 – 45.861) g = 0.092 g

Density = #(mass)/(volume) = (0.092 g)/(0.0500 L)# = 1.8 g/L

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