During Mr. Nye science class students were expected to identify various substances using physical properties they could easily measure Mr. Nye gave each of the five groups a green metal cube and asked them to identify what the cube was made of matts cube after 5 trials had a average density of 7.40 g/cm^3 His group was made of
aluminum
gold
nickel
zinc
To identify the metal cube, the students used physical properties that they could easily measure. One of these properties is density, which is defined as the mass of a substance divided by its volume.
In this case, Mr. Nye provided each group with a green metal cube. The density of each cube was measured in grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm^3). Density is a characteristic property of a substance, meaning that each metal has a unique density value. By comparing the measured density of the cube to the densities of different metals, the students would be able to identify what the cube was made of.
Now, let's determine what the cube was made of based on the given information. The density of the cube was determined by Matt's group after five trials, and it had an average density of 7.40 g/cm^3. The possible options given for the cube's composition are aluminum, gold, nickel, and zinc.
To find the correct metal, we need to compare the measured density to the known densities of these metals. Here are the densities of the given metals:
- Aluminum: 2.70 g/cm^3
- Gold: 19.32 g/cm^3
- Nickel: 8.91 g/cm^3
- Zinc: 7.13 g/cm^3
Comparing these densities to the measured density of 7.40 g/cm^3, we can see that the closest match is zinc, which has a density value of 7.13 g/cm^3. Therefore, based on the calculations, the metal cube provided by Mr. Nye is most likely made of zinc.