Question

A 0.8 kg object displaces 500 mL of water. What is its specific gravity?

Answer 1

The specific gravity is how the density of the object compares to the density of water. Water's density is 1gram per milliliter. We just need to figure out the density of the object.

The object is .8 kg and it displaces 500mL of water, so the density is the mass divided by the volume. Since the density of water is given in grams, we have to convert the objects mass from kg to g and then we can get the density.

.8kg * 1000g/kg = 800 grams

So

800g/500ml = 1.6grams/mL this is the density.

So divide the density of your object by the density of water, which is 1g/mL, you get 1.6 as the specific gravity. This means the object is 1.6 times more dense than water.