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Question

Question: How would you calculate the density of methanol (\[C{H_3}OH\])?...

How would you calculate the density of methanol (CH3OHC{H_3}OH)?

Explanation

Solution

The density of a substance is the amount of substance which is contained in a unit volume. The density of a substance gives the information about the physical state.

Complete step by step answer:
Density of a substance is defined as its mass per unit volume. It is an important physical property. It is used for characterizing a material or chemical system as a solid or liquid or gas.
Density is denoted by the symbol ρ\rho . Mathematically for a substance with mass mm and volume VV, the density for the substance is calculated as the ratio of the mass and the volume it occupies. It is represented as
Density, ρ=mV\rho = \dfrac{m}{V}
From the above relation if the volume occupied by any substance is in unit volume then the density of the substance is equal to the mass of that substance. The mass and the volume are measurable physical parameters which are measured using laboratory instruments.
The density of methanol is calculated at 298K298K means at room temperature is 0.792gcm30.792gc{m^{ - 3}}.
The density of any substance varies with change in temperature and pressure. The density of solids varies the least than liquids or gases. The density of a substance also informs whether the substance will float or sink on another substance.
For example the density of hexane is 0.655gcm30.655gc{m^{ - 3}}. It is found in the laboratory that hexane and methanol are immiscible liquids due to the polarity difference between the two liquid solvents. The lighter of the two is hexane having less density. Thus hexane will float on methanol.

Note:
The reciprocal of density is referred to as the specific volume. The density is the intensive property of any substance and is increased by increasing the mass of the substance and decreased by increasing the volume of the substance.