EXPERIMENT NO.

2
SPECIFIC GRAVITY DETERMINATION
Objective(s):

This activity aims to determine the specific gravity of fluids using U-tube manometer.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

The student shall be able to:

1. Determine the specific gravity of fluids using U-tube manometer

2. Expand the knowledge on other uses of U-tube in other experiments. Apply the
techniques and skills using U-tube relevant to professional engineering practice.

DISCUSSION:

Specific gravity of a fluid is the dimensionless ration of specific weight Y or density P

of a fluid to the specific weight Ys or density Ps of the standard substance.

For liquids and solids, the standard substance is pure water at 4 C at which
temperature, its specific weight, Ys is equal to 9.81kN/m3 and Ps is equal to 1000 kg/m3 are
at their maximum values.

With these constants, equation 1.1 may be used to compute the specific weight and density
of a fluid given its specific gravity S. For gases, the temperature and pressure has Ys=12.7
N/m3
And Ps=1.29 kg/m3

The specific gravity should not be confused with the density since these are two different
properties of a substance, the first one being dimensionless and the second having the
dimension kg/m3 or g/cm3 . In the SI units, however, these two are numerically equal if the
density is expressed in gm/cm3 . For example, water has specific gravity pf unity and density
of 1 gm/cm3.

Resources / Intruments Required:

 U-tube Manometer
 Ruler
 Glass Funnel
 Rubber Tubing
 Kerosene, Diesel, Oil
 Distilled Water
 Beaker
Procedures:

1. Pour a quantity of distilled water in the U-tube glass manometer.

2. Add a quantity of oil inside the U-tube glass manometer until it stands.

3. Measure the heights of water and oil inside the U-tube.

4. Using the formula derived below, determine the unknown specific gravity of your
desired liquid.

Points 1 and 2 are exposed to the atmosphere, therefore gage pressure is zero.

If fluid 1 has known specific gravity, then

P1 - Pw (1.1)

ylh1 = ywhw (1.2)

(SG) Ywhl = (1) Ywhw (1.3)

ℎ𝑤
(SG) Ywhl = (1) (1.4)
ℎ𝑙

5. Repeat procedures 1 to 4 with other liquids. For heavy liquids, use mercury as
standard liquid.

Data and Results:

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

hl (cm) hw (cm) hl (cm) hw (cm) hl (cm) hw (cm)
Kerosene 6.5 cm 4.5 cm 8 cm 5.5 cm 9.8 cm 7.5 cm
Diesel 9.3 cm 7.3 cm 15.5 cm 12.6 cm 21 cm 17.2 cm
Oil 13.2 cm 12.5 cm 20.7 cm 19 cm 27 cm 24.5 cm

Computations:

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average

Kerosene 0.69 0.69 0.76 0.71
Diesel 0.78 0.81 0.82 0.80
Oil 0.95 0.92 0.91 0.93
Kerosene:

hw 4.5
SG1 = = 6.5 = 0.69
hl

hw 5.5
SG2 = hl
= 8
= 0.69

hw 7.5
SG3 = = 9.8 = 0.76
hl
 Diesel:
hw 7.3
SG1 = = 9.3 = 0.78
hl

hw 12.6
SG2 = = 15.5 = 0.81
hl

hw 17.2
SG3 = = = 0.82
hl 21

Oil:
hw 12.5
SG1 = = 13.2 = 0.95
hl

hw 19
SG2 = = 20.7 = 0.92
hl

hw 24.5
SG3 = = = 0.91
hl 27

𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 1+𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 2+𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 3

Average SG = 3

0.69+0.69+0.76
For Kerosene: Average SGkerosene = = 0.713
3

0.78+0.81+0.82
For Diesel: Average SGdiesel = = 0.803
3

0.95+0.92+0.91
For Oil: Average SGOil = = 0.927
3

Diagram:
DOCUMENTATION:

RESOURCES AND INSTRUMENTS REQUIRED MEMBERS OF THE GROUP

POURING OF DISTILLED WATER POURING OF OIL

 POURING OF KEROSENE POURING OF DIESEL

OBSERVATION:

We observe that the kerosene and water has a great height difference compared to
oil and water which only have a small gap. This might be the effect of their different specific
gravity and density. It is important to make sure that the liquid poured in the u-tube
manometer didn’t have bubbles because bubbles can greatly affect the data. We also
noticed that the kerosene, diesel and oil doesn’t mix with water because of the specific
gravity.

CONCLUSION:

In the experiment, we obtained specific gravity of different kinds of liquid namely;

kerosene, diesel, and oil. The liquid with the largest specific gravity is the oil with an average
of 0.93 which only means that the oil is denser than the other two liquids. While the diesel
has an average of 0.80 specific gravity and the kerosene has an average of 0.71 specific
gravity.