Imagine you are a lab technician, and a colleague informs you there have been problems with the 25.0-mL samples you have been pr
oviding. You know you have been measuring the volume carefully and reading the meniscus correctly, so you decide to check the calibration of the graduated cylinder you have been using. You fill the graduated cylinder with water at 25 °C up to the 25.0 mL mark, and then measure the mass of this volume of water. You find that the mass is 22.4 g. The density of water at 25 °C is 0.99704 g/mL. What is the actual volume of the water?
When the graduated cylinder is in the 25.0mL mark, the mass of this volume is 22.4g. To convert this mass to volume we need to use density, as follows:
22.4g × (1mL / 0.99704g) = 22.5mL is the volume of the water.
That means the cylinder is uncalibrated in 2.5mL when the cylinder is in the 25.0mL mark
