A solid object has a mass of 50.0 g and displaces 20.0 mL of water when submerged. What is the density of the object?

• A. 1.00 g/mL
• B. 4.00 g/mL
• C. 2.50 g/mL
• D. 0.40 g/mL

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Identify the given quantities: mass of the object \(m = 50.0\ \text{g}\) and volume of water displaced \(V = 20.0\ \text{mL}\). The volume displaced by the object is equal to the volume of the object itself.
2. Recall the formula for density, which is the ratio of mass to volume: \(\rho = \frac{m}{V}\), where \(\rho\) is density, \(m\) is mass, and \(V\) is volume.
3. Substitute the known values into the density formula: \(\rho = \frac{50.0\ \text{g}}{20.0\ \text{mL}}\).
4. Perform the division to find the density value (do not calculate the final number here, just set up the expression).
5. Express the units of density as grams per milliliter (\(\text{g/mL}\)), which is appropriate since mass is in grams and volume is in milliliters.