Calculate the Specific Gravity of an object that sinks in water if m = 21.97 g and mA = 17.40 g.
what does mA mean?
To calculate the specific gravity of an object, we need to know two things: the mass of the object (m) and the mass of an equal volume of water (mA). The specific gravity (SG) is the ratio of the density of the object to the density of water.
Density is defined as the mass of an object divided by its volume. Mathematically, it can be represented as:
Density (ρ) = mass (m) / volume (V)
Since we have the mass of the object (m) and the mass of an equal volume of water (mA), we can calculate the specific gravity using the following formula:
SG = ρ / ρwater
= (m / V) / (mA / V)
= m / mA
Substituting the given values:
SG = 21.97 g / 17.40 g
≈ 1.265
Therefore, the specific gravity of the object is approximately 1.265.