Density Ranking Tasks - Questions

The Density Ranking Tasks Concept Builder is comprised of 45 questions. The questions are divided into 15 different Question Groups and spread across three distinctly different activities. Questions in the same group are rather similar to one another, involving the ranking of three different samples according to their density. The Concept Builder is coded to select at random a question from each group until a student is successful with that group of questions.

There are activities in the Concept Builder. Those three activities can be described as follows:
 
  • Particle Diagrams: Question Groups 1-6 ... Analyze particle diagrams for three samples of matter in order to rank them according to their density..
  • Mass and Volume: Question Groups 7-9 ...Rank three samples of matter according to their density based upon information about their mass and volume values.
  • Sink, Float and Displace: Question Groups 10-15 ... Make observations about density columns and density experiments in order to rank three samples of matter according to heir density..

The questions from each group are shown below. Teachers are encouraged to view the questions in order to judge which activities are most appropriate for their classes.  

The Physics Classroom grants teachers and other users the right to print these questions for private use. Users are also granted the right to copy the text and modify it for their own use. However, this document should not be uploaded to other servers for distribution to and/or display by others. The Physics Classroom website should remain the only website or server from which the document is distributed or displayed. We also provide a PDF that teachers can use under the same conditions. We have included a link to the PDF near the bottom of this page.

 

Density Ranking Tasks

 
 
Activity 1:  Particle Diagrams
Question Group 1
Question 1
Consider three samples of the same gas present in containers that have the same volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Question 2
Consider three samples of the same gas present in containers that have the same volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 

 

Question 3
Consider three samples of the same gas present in containers that have the same volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 

Question Group 2
Question 4
Consider three samples of the same gas present in containers that have a different volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Question 5
Consider three samples of the same gas present in containers that have a different volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.

 
 
 


Question 6
Consider three samples of the same gas present in containers that have a different volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Question Group 3
Question 7
Consider three samples of the same gas present in containers that have a different volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 
 


Question 8
Consider three samples of the same gas present in containers that have a different volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 

 

Question 9
Consider three samples of the same gas present in containers that have a different volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 

 

 

Question Group 4
Question 10
Consider three samples of a different gas present in containers that have the same volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Question 11
Consider three samples of a different gas present in containers that have the same volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Question 12
Consider three samples of a different gas present in containers that have the same volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 

 

Question Group 5
Question 13
Consider three samples of a different gas present in containers that have the same volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Question 14
Consider three samples of a different gas present in containers that have the same volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Question 15
Consider three samples of a different gas present in containers that have the same volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Question Group 6
Question 16
Consider three samples of a different gas present in containers that have a different volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Question 17
Consider three samples of a different gas present in containers that have a different volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Question 18
Consider three samples of a different gas present in containers that have a different volume. The particle diagrams show the arrangement of gas particles in the three containers. Rank the three samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Activity 2:  Mass and Volume
Question Group 7
Question 19
The measured mass and volume of three metal samples are shown. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 

Question 20
The measured mass and volume of three metal samples are shown. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 

Question 21
The measured mass and volume of three metal samples are shown. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 
 

 

Question Group 8
Question 22
The measured mass and volume of three metal samples are shown. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 
 

 
 

Question 23
The measured mass and volume of three metal samples are shown. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 


Question 24
The measured mass and volume of three metal samples are shown. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 

 

Question Group 9
Question 25
The measured mass and volume of three metal samples are shown. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 

 

Question 26
The measured mass and volume of three metal samples are shown. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Question 27
The measured mass and volume of three metal samples are shown. Rank the samples according to their density.
​ 
 
  
 
 
 
 

Activity 3:  Density Observations
Question Group 10
Question 28
A density column is prepared in a cylinder using three different liquids, each colored with a drop of food coloring. Three samples of household objects are shredded and dropped into the cylinder. The diagrams show where the shredded materials settle. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 
 
Question 29
A density column is prepared in a cylinder using three different liquids, each colored with a drop of food coloring. Three samples of household objects are shredded and dropped into the cylinder. The diagrams show where the shredded materials settle. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 

 
Question 30
A density column is prepared in a cylinder using three different liquids, each colored with a drop of food coloring. Three samples of household objects are shredded and dropped into the cylinder. The diagrams show where the shredded materials settle. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 

 
Question Group 11
Question 31
Four different liquids are used to prepare different density columns. Then three samples of household objects are shredded and dropped into each column. The diagrams show where the shredded materials settle. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
Question 32
Four different liquids are used to prepare different density columns. Then three samples of household objects are shredded and dropped into each column. The diagrams show where the shredded materials settle. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 
 

 
Question 33
Four different liquids are used to prepare different density columns. Then three samples of household objects are shredded and dropped into each column. The diagrams show where the shredded materials settle. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 
 

 
Question Group 12
Question 34
Five different liquids are used to prepare different density columns. Then three samples of household objects are shredded and dropped into each column. The diagrams show where the shredded materials settle. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
Question 35
Five different liquids are used to prepare different density columns. Then three samples of household objects are shredded and dropped into each column. The diagrams show where the shredded materials settle. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 

 
Question 36
Five different liquids are used to prepare different density columns. Then three samples of household objects are shredded and dropped into each column. The diagrams show where the shredded materials settle. Rank the samples according to their density.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Question Group 13
Question 37
A graduated cylinder is filled with 100.0 mL of water. The cylinder is placed on a mass balance and tared (zeroed). In three different studies, samples of metal beads are added to the cylinder and their mass and the new volume reading are recorded sor several trials. Plots are constructed for each sample. Rank the samples according to their density.
 

 
 
 
Question 38
A graduated cylinder is filled with 100.0 mL of water. The cylinder is placed on a mass balance and tared (zeroed). In three different studies, samples of metal beads are added to the cylinder and their mass and the new volume reading are recorded. Plots are constructed for each sample. Rank the samples according to their density.
 

 
 

 
Question 39
A graduated cylinder is filled with 100.0 mL of water. The cylinder is placed on a mass balance and tared (zeroed). In three different studies, samples of metal beads are added to the cylinder and their mass and the new volume reading are recorded. Plots are constructed for each sample. Rank the samples according to their density.
 

 
 
 
 
 
Question Group 14
Question 40
A graduated cylinder is filled with 100.0 mL of water. The cylinder is placed on a mass balance and tared (zeroed). In three different studies, samples of solid are added to the cylinder. The mass of solid and the new volume reading are shown. Rank the samples according to their density.
 


 

 
Question 41
A graduated cylinder is filled with 100.0 mL of water. The cylinder is placed on a mass balance and tared (zeroed). In three different studies, samples of solid are added to the cylinder. The mass of solid and the new volume reading are shown. Rank the samples according to their density.
 


 

 
Question 42
A graduated cylinder is filled with 100.0 mL of water. The cylinder is placed on a mass balance and tared (zeroed). In three different studies, samples of solid are added to the cylinder. The mass of solid and the new volume reading are shown. Rank the samples according to their density.
 

 
 
 

 
Question Group 15
Question 43
A graduated cylinder is filled with 100.0 mL of water. The cylinder is placed on a mass balance and tared (zeroed). In three different studies, samples of solid are added to the cylinder. The mass of solid and the new volume reading are shown. Rank the samples according to their density.
 

 




 
Question 44
A graduated cylinder is filled with 100.0 mL of water. The cylinder is placed on a mass balance and tared (zeroed). In three different studies, samples of solid are added to the cylinder. The mass of solid and the new volume reading are shown. Rank the samples according to their density.
 



 


Question 45
A graduated cylinder is filled with 100.0 mL of water. The cylinder is placed on a mass balance and tared (zeroed). In three different studies, samples of solid are added to the cylinder. The mass of solid and the new volume reading are shown. Rank the samples according to their density.