Question

The density of gold is 19.3 g /cm cubed The density of iron pyrite is 5.0 g /cm cubed. Is a nugget of iron pyrite and a nugget of gold each have a mass of 50 g what can you conclude about the volume of each nugget

Answer 1

If you clear volume in the density equation:


`\rho = (m)/(V)\ \to\ V = (m)/(\rho)`

The greater the density the lower the volume. This means, the volume of gold nugget will be smaller than the volume of iron pyrite nugget.


`V_(gold) = (m)/(\rho) = (50\ g)/(19.3\ g/cm^3) = \bf 2.59\ cm^3`


`V_(iron) = (m)/(\rho) = (50\ g)/(5.0\ g/cm^3) = \bf 10\ cm^3`