Question

A certain medallion has a mass of 55.64 g. When placed in 75.2 mL of water in a graduated cylinder, the water level rises and then reads 77.8 mL. Is the medallion made of platinum (D = 21.4 g/mL) or silver (D= 10.5 g/mL)?

Answer 1

Explanation:

the mass of the medallion corresponds to

77.8 - 75.2 = 2.6 mL

with 55.64 g this gives us the density ratio

55.64/2.6 g/mL

to norm it down to grams per 1 mL we need to simplify this and divide numerator and denominator by 2.6 :

(55.64/2.6) / (2.6/2.6) = 21.4/1 g/mL = 21.4 g/mL

it is made of platinum.