Are Density Tests for Metals Reliable?

[John1397]

I was wondering if density tests work as I have seen that you can hang a piece of silver from a string using a balance scale then weigh the silver dry then put it in distilled water at 70 degrees and weigh it again, subtract the difference and divided this number into the dry weight this is to be the density? Why you say do you ask well I took a piece of silver and did this and I came up with a density of 8.76 I thought silver was to be 10.4 I had some melted down lead and I do not know how pure it was but it's density was 11.10 seems kind of right just wondering if this is the method they use to tell if metals are made of what they say they are made of?

 

[Valerie Park]

Yes, this is the method they use to determine the density of a metal. The density of silver is 10.4 g/cm3, so your result of 8.76 g/cm3 indicates that the sample isn't pure silver. Lead has a density of 11.3 g/cm3, so your result of 11.10 g/cm3 suggests that your lead sample is reasonably pure.