up to what decimal place can you measure the volume of a liquid with a 10 ml graduated cylinder?

Question

im not sure about my answers
and if you can answer these too:
a 100 ml graduated cylinder
a 10 ml pipette
the weight of a substance with your balance
the dimensions of a solid using a ruler
thanks!

Answer 1

This is an excellent exercise in significant figures! A significant figure is everything that describes a physical state. The last decimal or whole number reported is the number where the uncertainty kicks in.

For a 10 mL graduated cylinder -- They are usually marked in two tenths of a mL (strange, but true). The accuracy is 0.2 mL. So you can see it is more than 7.2 mL, but less than 7.4 mL. for an example.

For a 100 mL graduated cylinder -- They are usually marked in whole mL. So you could see it was between 7 and 8 mL.

For a 10 mL pipette, they are marked at 0.1mL increments, so you could see that it was more than 7.2 mL and less than 7.3 mL.

So for the three volume measurements you would report something like 7.2 mL, 7 mL and 7.2 mL even though the accuracy of the three systems is different!

The weight of substance with a balance depends on the balance. Some Mettler benchtop machines are good to 0.0001 g. Most aren't. Whatever the last graduation mark is determines it's accuracy.

Again the dimensions of a solid with a ruler depend on graduations on the ruler. I've seen rulers that do 1/4 inch, 1/8 inch, 1/16 inch or 1/32 inch (metric versions that do 0.5 cm, or 1 mm).

Answer 2

A graduated cylinder is more accurate than a graduated beaker of the same volume. A small tall beaker could be more accurate than a large graduated cylinder. You can figure this out just by looking. The more accurate vessel will be the one with the smallest diameter for the volume in question

Answer 3

for a standard 10 mL graduated cylinder, you can't measure with a greater precision than 1 mL (no decimals). (1 decimal if you're using a Class A cylinder).

a 100 mL grad cylinder, to 1 mL (no decimals)

a 10 mL pipet can be used to 1 decimal place.

Depends on the precision of your balance. If your balance measures to 1 decimal, then you have that amount of precision. If it only measures to the gram, then you have no decimals, etc. Same for the ruler.

Answer 4

100ml Measuring Cylinder