The hypothesis, if the densities of of pre-1982 pennies are compared to the densities of post-1982 then the density of the pre-1982 will be greater than the post-1982 pennies because copper, used in the pre-1982 pennies, is more dense of a metal than the metal used in the post-1982 pennies, is an accurate representation of the results acquired by the tests. Test were conducted that figured out the mass and volume of both of the old and new pennies. The mass was measured by using a triple beam balance, measuring the mass of the pennies in increments of five pennies at a time. The volume was measured by filling a graduated to a set amount with water and measuring the rise in the water level by increments of five pennies. Once these tests were finished, the equation to calculate density, mass divided by volume, was used to help to analyze the differences in the two different penny compositions. Information was gathered about the approximate density for the old pennies which was about 8.34 g/mL for the pre-1982 pennies and about 6.79 g/mL for the post-1982 pennies. From this experiment, the composition of the post-1982 pennies…show more content… Minor calculation errors may occur in one testing but if the experiment two to three times, the errors will be caught. The test would also be more accurate if there was a smaller scale of measurements that was used, resulting in more precise results. The percent error of the two results was calculated by subtracting the density gotten in the lab by the density of the metal divided by the density of the metal. The percent error in the two experiments were different. The percent error for the pre-1982 pennies was 6.5% while the post-1982 was much lower with a percent error of 1.3%. This experiment, like many others, brought up other questions related to the topic. From this experiment the question of whether or not there was a material change in pennies prior to the change in
