An engineer wants to determine the mass and volume of a high-purity platinum pellet to verify its density.
Before placing the pellet on the digital balance, the engineer notices that the balance reads −0.06 g-0.06\text{ g}−0.06 g when empty. How should the engineer use this reading to determine the correct mass of the pellet from any subsequent measurement?
The engineer suspended the pellet using a thick nylon cord to lower it into a displacement vessel. Suggest one reason why they should have used a very thin metal wire instead.
The measuring cylinder used to collect the displaced water has graduation marks every 0.5 cm30.5\text{ cm}^30.5 cm3. The true volume of the pellet is 0.75 cm30.75\text{ cm}^30.75 cm3. Explain why this measuring cylinder cannot provide an accurate value for the volume of the pellet.
The density of platinum is 21 500 kg/m321\,500\text{ kg/m}^321500 kg/m3. Knowing that the true volume of the pellet is 0.75 cm30.75\text{ cm}^30.75 cm3, calculate the mass of the pellet in kilograms. Give your answer to 3 significant figures.
22 exam-style questions on AQA GCSE Physics 3.1 Changes of state and the particle model, covering 3.1.1 Density of materials and 3.1.2 Changes of state. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.