James 2:14-26 presentation; Faith and Deeds

The passage I chose to speak on was James 2: 14-26, which is given the title “Faith and Deeds.”

“Faith and Deeds

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless^[a^]? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”^[b^] and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

While I was trying to think up what I was going to put in my speech, I was desperately hoping that my pastor would, coincidentally, preach on the same passage I was doing. Sadly, he didn’t but I did get my inspiration for this speech during church. I don’t really know what the pastor was preaching on because, well, I wasn’t really paying attention. What I was paying attention to was the two sisters that were sitting right in front of me who looked like they were about 12 and 10. They were just sitting next to each other, whispering and when one was cold, they would curl up next to the other. It was sweet. They were just so kind to each other, it looked like it came straight out of a Disney movie. In a nice way! But, that’s not really the point. The point is that the real lesson I learned that day in church was that the way a Christian acts is what a true Christian should be focusing on.

Now, the way I worded that is kind of confusing, so maybe giving you the background of James and why it was written would help. James was written by, guess who? That’s right, James, Jesus’ half-brother. He wrote this letter to poor and oppressed people. James was writing to them reminding them on how to act and for them to stay strong even when times were hard. It is during those times that it is important not to turn away from God. During the good, easy times, it is easy to praise God but during the hard times that is when you will want to turn away from him.

Ya, that kind of helped and if it didn’t I still have about eight or nine minutes to explain! So, to help elaborate, I will use one of my favorite quotes; “Action’s speak louder than words.” The way a person acts, especially a Christian is so important. We must reflect Christ in out attitude so that others can see Him in us. It’s like that song that we used to sing when we were kids, talking about letting our light shine and not putting it under a basket.

Even though we were trained from a young age to act in a way that reflect the Lord, honestly, how often do we really? I know that once I am out of those church doors, I don’t always think about my actions and about how they are reflecting God. We are like God’s mirror. What we do is a reflection of Him. We don’t want to be a tainted mirror that is broken and cracked. We want to be smooth and have a shine that is a perfect reflection of God. Now obviously, this isn’t possible because we are fallen creatures but I think that we, as Christians, tend to use that as an excuse. “Oh we are imperfect and are sinners so it is normal (do I even dare to say) okay for us to sin.” We have gotten used to it. It is a daily routine, like brushing our teeth. But we shouldn’t accept it so easily. Yes, God will forgive us and yes we are fallen creatures and yes it is an impossible task for us to be perfect but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” It can be tedious and long and boring but God loves us. Our Father loves us and imagine His pride at us just simply trying! Even if we fail, our Father will still be proud. Trying is an action in itself.

In this passage it is clearly, and many times, stated that faith without actions is dead. Usually Bible passages say something bad but have some hope at the end, a light at the end of a dark tunnel, but this one lays down an ultimatum. The last verse states “ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” Basically, the comparison between body without spirit is dead and faith without deeds is dead is a subtle way of saying that if you don’t have actions with your faith, you are going to die. But, take notice of how I say WITH your faith. You need your faith and you need your actions. It’s not an either/or situation. One must go with the other. Faith and Deeds. Peanut butter and Jelly. One cannot go without the other.

Another verse that really hit me was the verse that said; “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” James is making another comparison by saying that if you simply believe in God, you are the same as a demon. Do you think that demons deny that God exists? No! They know that He is there. People that simply acknowledge God’s existence are compared to demons. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be compared to demons. This passage, and especially this verse, stings. James might as well have put my name in the passage. “Shannon, you have the faith of demons.” But just because our faith may be like that now, doesn’t mean we can’t change it. It doesn’t mean to go and move to Africa tomorrow and help children there. Just saying hi to someone in the hall, or giving someone a hug who might not have had such a great day. Little things are what stick with people the longest.

Now, even though I try and lighten up the mood with some not-so-clever jokes, this is a serious matter. To put it simply, if our faith is not accompanied with actions, our faith is not true faith and we are going to die and go to Hell. This passage is not sugar coated. It is a straight forward ultimatum. DO or DIE. Quite literally.

Bible Translation Comparison

Shannon Smith 3-28-11

RSA SR9 Bible

The NIV and the King James are similar translations but the NIV is a more “relaxed” version on the KJV. In James 2:14-25 throughout the entire passage, the NIV uses the word “deeds” while the KJV uses the word “works”. In verses 14-15 there are no significant differences besides some slight word variations but the different variations still get the same message across. In verse 16 the NIV uses the word “well fed” while the KJV uses the word “filled”. In verse 17 the NIV uses the word “action” in contrast the the KJV’s use of “works” and it adds on the words “being alone” to the end of the verse. Verse 18 does not have any important differences but in verse 19 the KJV uses the words “the devils” and the NIV says “demons”. Verse 20 in the NIV uses “You foolish person” while the KJV uses “O vain man”. In 21 NIV calls Abraham “righteous” and the KJV calls him “Justified by his works”. In verse 22 the NIV says “actions” and the KJV says “works”. Also in 22 the KJV says that his faith was made “perfect” and in the NIV says “complete”. In verse 23 the NIV uses the word “credited” instead of the word “imputed” that the KJV uses. Verse 24 did not have any important differences. In the NIV, verse 25 the translation calls Rahab is called a prostitute while in the KJV she is called a harlot. Also, in 25 they say that she is “justified” and in the NIV they say she is “considered righteous”. Those are the difference that seemed to have the most significance.

The difference that stood out to me the most was the NIV using the word “demons” while the KJV says “the devils”. I think that this difference is important and that the meanings are different. Also, another major difference that stood out to me was the words “deeds” and “works” and how they were used in the NIV and the KJV. The words can mean different things and I personally think the the word “deeds” is more appropriate for this particular passage. Another add on that the KJV uses was the add on of “being alone” and I thought that the add on was very important. And, the final major significance, is how the NIV says that Rahab was “considered righteous” versus the KJV saying that she was “justified”. I think that these difference need to be kept in mind.

Alexander the Great Theme (including works cited)

There are many people that are considered great. Our president, for example, war heroes, maybe even our parents, and a common example, Alexander the Great. He even has the word “Great” in the title, but the real question is not “who?” but “what?” and “why?” What makes a hero great? Why is Alexander the Great considered great? Was it because of his military success? His total domination of the Eastern empires? If only a man’s success is taken into account, Alexander is most definitely great, but if greatness is simply judged by success, Hitler, a Nazi tyrant, is also great. He managed to control some large areas of Europe and succeed in the “purification” of Germany. He got exactly what he wanted, as did Alexander. As Plutarch brilliantly stated, though, “...often a man’s most brilliant actions prove nothing as to his true character...” (Plutarch. pg. 300) Even though Alexander had many brilliant actions, that does not mean that Alexander was a great person.

Alexander is not to be denied his great actions. When he was only sixteen years old “He defeated and subdued the Maedian rebels, took their city, ejected its barbarian inhabitants, and reconstituted it as a Grecian colony, to which he gave the name of Alexandropolis.” (Plutarch. pg. 307) Even when he wasn’t officially ruling over Macedonia, he still managed to stop a rebellion and conquer other lands. Alexander was trained from a young age to maintain a good military and create a strong empire. Also, Alexander did not necessarily have an easy beginning, he had to build up his country. He had to fight the odds of being a “...young king of a small country that had been a great power for less than thirty years. He had inherited an empty treasury and a throne surrounded by would-be traitors.” (Strauss and Ober, The Anatomy of Error; Darius III of Persia: Why he Lost and made Alexander Great. pg. 105-106) Alexander not only made a great empire, he fought, you could say, fate itself for it. Another example of his great achievements, after he got his empire rolling, was when Alexander became “the king of the Greeks, which was something that no Spartan or Athenian hero had ever managed to pull off.” ( Bauer. Alexander and the Wars of the Successors. pg. 592) Finally, what Alexander is most famously know for and one of the most influential things he did was his change of the culture in the Mediterranean world. “His role as an agent of Greek culture changed the Mediterranean world in a multitude of ways, ushering in what historians have come to call the Hellenistic period.” ("Alexander the Great." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 7 Apr. 2011.) It would be fair to say that Alexander single-handedly brought about the Hellenistic period. He would conquer a territory and then he would bring the Greek culture into it and it would slowly spread in proportion to how far his empire spread. If the “definition of greatness” would be solely based off of Alexander’s actions, he would more than qualified, but the definition does not solely rest on actions, but on other “requirements.”

To “define greatness” is a nearly impossible task because there are many things that could be taken into account, but the “checklist for greatness” can be narrowed down to a persons character, courage and bravery, confidence and independence. Great people have to have independence, if they are dependent on someone else, they will never do anything on their own and to be great, you have to do something great. Though, at first, independence may not seem that important to being great, it is. To put it simply, independence is “freedom from the control of others.” If you are being controlled by others, it is not your actions that you are committing, it is theirs. Doing what someone tells you to do without question is in no way great, it is a sign of a weak will. Making your own decisions and acting off of them is an important quality of greatness. Independence shows that you have the ability to make decisions, and not only that, but have the confidence to act off of them. To be great, you have to have the confidence to be great. If you are doubting your decision the whole time, you will not be able to put in everything you have and will go in halfheartedly. A great person must be confident in what they are doing, because if a person does not believe in what they are doing, they will not do it. Also, a great person needs the bravery and courage to be great. It takes bravery to charge into the thick of battle, not knowing what is in front of you and not knowing if there is anyone still behind you. Courage and bravery are not only confined to the battle field, though. It takes bravery to speak your mind, and speak it to people who will not always agree with what is said. The final component of greatness is good character. Someone can be independent, have unlimited confidence and be the bravest person in the world, but if his character is cruel, he can never be great. To have a good character, you must think of others, be kind, have humility and good moral values, for example. Greatness is rooted in the very core of a human being.

There is a fine line between having the right amount of confidence and having too much confidence. Having too much confidence can often lead to rash and foolish actions, that will hurt you and the others around you. Alexander had over-excessive confidence. One time “His friends wished him to enter the foot races at Olympia; he answered that he would be willing, if his opponents were kings.” ( Alexander. Durant. pg. 538) Alexander’s egotistical action could be interpreted as confidence, but it reality it was his self-centered ways that kept him out of the footrace. Alexander may have appeared to have independence, but he just did what his father wanted him to do. Even at a young age, Alexander was easily controlled. “ Philip, seeing that his son was easily led,... used always to manage him by persuasion, ...” ( Life of Alexander. Plutarch. pg. 305) A truly independent person would not have been able to be led so easily. Alexander, through out his whole childhood, had been manipulated into doing what his father wanted him to do instead of making his own decisions. When his father died, he still continued to do what his father wanted by completing his work of conquering the know land. It does indeed take courage to charge into battle as the first person, with a white plume on your head to distinguish yourself as a target, but where does it change from courage and bravery to bloodlust and foolishness? Alexander had been conforming to some of the other countries practices and some of his generals were resenting him for this. “This resentment boiled out at a drunken dinner late in 328, when the very same Cleitus who had saved Alexander’s life at Granicus accused him of taking credit for victories for victories won by the blood of loyal Macedonians... Alexander grabbed a spear from his bodyguard and spitted his countrymen.” (Bauer.Alexander and the Wars of the Successors. pg. 597) Alexander had gotten such a lust for blood and such a temper that he killed several of his own countrymen. Finally, Alexander has been described as “...fond of drinking, and fiery in disposition.” (Plutarch, Life of Alexander. pg. 303) He was prone to getting drunk and, as in the case of killing his own men, did foolish and rash acts based off his temper. Also, when he was younger “...he was exiled for insulting his father, King Philip II of Macedon,...”(Cheshire, Keyne. "Was Alexander Really Great?: The "Great"-ness of Alexander III of Macedon.") His character was far from acceptable; it was rash and foolish. Alexander the Great, though his conquest may have been great, was not, as a person, great.

Though Alexander has been described as “great” for all of history, he is not great. He did many foolish and rash things that a leader, being and example for all to follow, should never do. In the case of Alexander, his great actions in no way resembled his true character. The saying “Actions speak louder than words” may be true, but only if all of the actions are taken into account.

Works Cited

1. Bauer. Alexander and the Wars of the Successors.
2. Durant. Alexander
3. Plutarch. Life of Alexander.

4. Strauss, Barry S., and Josiah Ober. The Anatomy of Error: Ancient Military Disasters and Their Lessons for Modern Strategists. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. Print.

1. World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 7 Apr. 2011.
2. Cheshire, Keyne. "Was Alexander Really Great?: The "Great"-ness of Alexander III of Macedon." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 14 Apr. 2011.

Historical and Literary Context of James

Shannon Smith 4-3-11

RSA SR9 Bible

In the epistle of James, it is hard to tell who the writer is because there were many people named James, but it is most likely Jesus’ half-brother, James. James was an unassuming Galilean carpenter, like his father and half-brother, Jesus. Some Biblical scholars think that it was not him because he was an uneducated carpenter and could not have know Greek, but since he was a leader in his community, it was more likely that he could have spoken Greek. The timeframe for the date of the book to have been written was around 40 to 50 A.D. James died only twelve years later. The letter of James was most likely meant as a general letter to all Jewish believers in the Roman world, as it was addressed to “the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.” (Archaeological Study Bible. NIV. James 1:1b) It is likely that the book was written from Jerusalem. (Archaeological Study Bible. NIV. pgs. 2000-2001)

The purpose of the book of James is to encourage the people since the people who were mainly reading it were poor and oppressed by the rich. In James 2:6 he says; “But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?” Also, since they were going through difficult times, James first talks about trials and temptations and to “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.” (Archaeological Study Bible. NIV. James 1:2) This would have been extremely important for them to hear because it is during difficult times that people turn away from God, not during prosperous times. During good times it is easy to give thanks to God and follow Him because He has given you everything you want. It is during the hard times that people lose their faith in God because we, as fallen creatures, do not understand why God has done this to us and we assume that we have done something wrong just because we do not have what we want. In reality, trials and temptations are what God uses to solidify our faith in Him and those difficult times are what we need. In James, that is exactly what he is trying to tell them.

Some of the running themes through the book of James are true faith expressed in deeds, wisdom and moral lessons. True faith, as described in James 2: 17 says; “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (Archaeological Study Bible. NIV.) He emphasizes the importance of faith, and not just faith by itself, but true faith that is followed up by actions. Also, going back to the purpose of the book, James probably put the section on Faith and Deeds in to remind them that even though they are in a bad situation, they still needed to have faith in the Lord and to keep it “polished” by accompanying it with actions, instead of “rusty faith” that you slack off and do not practice regularly. Another theme in the book is wisdom. James uses it through the whole book. In the first chapter he indirectly compares wisdom to being “mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God,...” (Archaeological Study Bible. NIV. James 1:4b-5a) Then, he has a section on the Two Kinds of Wisdom. He talks about “earthly wisdom” and “heavenly wisdom” and how earthly wisdom comes from the devil and how you should strive towards gaining “heavenly wisdom.” Another theme in the epistle is “moral lessons.” These “moral lessons” are like the ones in Sunday School where the teacher would ask; “What is the moral of the story?” and the class would respond with something like; “Don’t get angry.” or something similar, depending on the story. James deals with many moral lessons like “Everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak and slow to become angry,...” (Archaeological Study Bible. NIV. James 1:19b) and Taming the Tongue and patience and submission to God. James was reminding his readers on how to act and behave like a Christian should; like Jesus. WWJD; What Would Jesus Do? really comes into play in James.

The passages surrounding James 2:14-26 are Favoritism Forbidden where it talks about how God does not show favoritism to anybody and how we should treat others equally. James 2:13 says; “because judgement without mercy will be shown to anyone who is not merciful.” This ties into Faith and Deeds well because James was just telling his readers to have mercy to everyone but specifically the poor and then he goes and says; “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes or daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?” (Archaeological Study Bible. NIV. James 2: 15-16) The passages are telling people how to act like Christ and part of acting like Christ is showing mercy to those most people would not show mercy to. The passage directly following Faith and Deeds is Taming the Tongue. James talks about how to act and then he moves on to how to speak. The book of James covers how to act, how to speak and even how to think in Submitting Yourselves to God.

Though at first it may seem that James is a letter, which it is, it can actually be classified into a more specific category of paraenesis which is Greek for “encouragement.” (The IVP Introduction to the Bible. Johnson, Philip S. pg. 252) James is encouraging the poor and oppressed by telling them to stay strong through the hard times and also teaching them how to act during the hard times. On the broader side, the epistle of James is preceded by Hebrews which deal with many of the same topics the James deals with. Hebrews deals with Perseverance,Faith and Christian Living, all of which James deals with. Also, the book following James, 1 Peter, deals with similar topics such as Christian Living, and Suffering for doing good and adds on a new topic of The Believer’s new identity. The books seem to work in a transitional way where they talk about certain topics and the book after that discusses some of the topics but adds on a couple of new topics and so on, gradually changing and evolving.

Solubility Laboratory

Accelerated Studies in Physics and Chemistry Laboratory

Author: Shannon K. Smith

Team Members: Grace Corley, Caroline Kerley, Bryson Thomas

Date of Experiment: March 28, 2011

Date Report Submitted: April 8, 2011

Class: Accelerated Studies in Physics and Chemistry, D block

Mr. Mays, Instructor

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this experiment was to determine how temperature affected solubility and how solubility could be determined by experiment. Two experiments were conducted, one with salt and one with sugar.

Background

To solve for the solubility, the equation of: p = m/v was used, where p is the solubility, and for the purpose of this lab, expressed in g/mL, m is the mass and v is the volume. For all of the volumes, approximately 50 mL of water was used.

The team divided into two separate groups, one for the hot water and the other for cold water. The team measured out approximately 100g of sodium chlorine and 50 mL of water. The sodium chlorine was slowly added it in to the beaker of water and stirred until it started to collect in the bottom of the beaker. The remaining sodium chlorine was measured and subtracted from the original 100g to discover how much sodium chlorine had dissolved into the water. The solubility was calculated. This procedure was repeated with sucrose.

The hypothesis was that in a higher temperature, the solubility would also be higher, despite if the solute was sucrose of sodium chorine.

Experimental Procedure

Equipment and materials used in this experiment were:

support rod (1)

burner ring (1)

right-angle clamp (1)

burner pad (1)

Bunsen burner (1)

gas hose (1)

tongs (2)

scoop (1)

beaker, 250 mL (1)

beaker, 400 mL (1)

electric stirrer (2)

stirring magnet (2)

graduated cylinder, 100 mL (1)

triple-beam balance (1)

sugar

table salt

water

The team divided up into two sections; one for the hot water and one for the cold water. The first step was to measure out approximately 50 mL of tap water into a 100 mL graduated cylinder. After the team measured out the water, it was poured into a 250 mL beaker. Then, approximately 100 grams of sodium chloride into a weigh boat. For the hot water, the team heated up the water until it was approximately 90 degrees Celsius. The team then used the scoop to place small amounts of salt into the beaker of water. The water was then stirred with the magnetic stirrer. This process was repeated until grains of sodium chloride started to accumulate at the bottom of the beaker. At the first sign of this, the leftover salt was measured and subtracted from 100 grams to get the amount that had dissolved into the water. If it was the hot water, the temperature was taken and if it was under 70 degrees Celsius, it was heated back up until it as at least 70 degrees Celsius. If there were still grains of sodium chloride at the bottom, the leftover sodium chloride was measured but if it had dissolved, more sodium chloride was added until they accumulated at the bottom. The solubility was calculated using This process was repeated with the sucrose.

Results

The results for this experiment are shown in Table 1.

solute	solubility
sucrose: 90 degrees C	.78 g/mL
sodium chloride: 90 degrees C	.292 g/mL
sucrose: 20 degrees C	.902 g/mL
sodium chloride: 20 degrees C	.364 g/mL

Discussion

The team’s results are represented graphically in Graph 1. The hypothesis was that the higher temperature of water would have a higher solubility than the cold water but in Graph 1 it shows that the sucrose had a higher solubility, despite the temperature. Referring to the purpose of this lab, the team’s results show that the temperature does not affect the solubility.

The possible sources of error consist of human error. Since the team had a limited amount of time to complete the lab, there were possible errors made from being rushed. When mixing the water and the solute, small amounts of water spilled out of the beaker, so the measurements were not exact. Also, the 100 grams of sucrose or sodium chlorine were only approximate measurements.

X axis- temperature, deg. C

Y axis - solubility g/mL

Conclusion

The team’s results were definitive; sucrose has a higher solubility than sodium chlorine. The higher temperature of the water does not mean that the solubility will be higher. The team’s hypothesis was disproved and temperature differences does not affect the solubility.

References

1. The Student Lab Report Handbook, 2nd ed. (Novare Science and Math: 2010)
2. Mays, John D. ASPC; Accelerated Studies in Physics and Chemistry: A Mastery - Oriented Curriculum for Ninth Grade, Preliminary Draft Version. (Novare Science and Math: 2011)

Density Labratory

This is not complete. The graphs and Tables are not in this

Accelerated Studies in Physics and Chemistry Laboratory

Author: Shannon K. Smith

Team Members: Grace Corley, Caroline Kerley, Bryson Thomas

Date of Experiment: April 8, 2011

Date Report Submitted: May 2, 2011

Class: Accelerated Studies in Physics and Chemistry, D block

Mr. Mays, Instructors

Purpose

The purpose of this experiment was to accurately measure the density of sections of PVC plastic and sections of aluminum metal and compare them to these values to the published values. The goal was to have the calculated values as close as possible to the published values.

Background

For this lab, the displacement method was used to determine the volume of the four sections of PVC plastic and aluminum metal. The displacement method was first used by Archimedes, a greek philosopher, who discovered the displacement method by sitting down into his bathtub and noticed how the water level rose when he got in and sunk back down when he got out. He then and used this method to determine the volume for the King’s crown to make sure it was made of real gold.

The equation used to solve for density was ρ = m/V, where ρ is the density expressed in g/cm³, m is the mass expresses in grams and V is volume in cm³. This equation can also be written as m=ρV so that mass varies directly with volume and density is the constant of proportionality and the slope of the line. This equation was discovered by Mendeleev in the 19th century when he predicted the density of germanium.

The team calculated the mass of the sections of PVC and Aluminum on the triple beam balance. Then the team filled the graduated cylinder with water depending on the height of the different sections. The sections were put into the water and the volume of the water was recorded before and after the section was inserted into the water. This procedure was repeated for each section of PVC and Aluminum.

The teams hypothesis was that the team could accurately predict the density of samples of PVC plastic and Aluminum.

Experimental Procedure

The following equipment was used in this experiment:

250-mL graduated cylinder

PVC plastic sections (4)

Aluminum metal sections (4)

triple-beam balance

The team first calculated the mass of each section of PVC plastic and Aluminum metal on the triple beam balance. These values were then recorded.

The team started with the PVC plastic sections and went from the shortest section to the tallest section. The team filled the graduated cylinder with water depending on the height of the sections of PVC plastic so that the water came slightly above the PVC plastic when the PVC was held up to the cylinder. This volume of the water was recorded. Then, the PVC plastic was carefully slid into the graduated cylinder and the new volume with the PVC section in the water was recorded. The final volume was subtracted from the initial volume to get the displacement. The density was calculated using the equation ρ = m/V. This procedure was repeated for the Aluminum metal sections.

Results

The values for the PVC plastic section are shown in Table 1.

Table 1.

Pipe:	mass,g	initial volume, mL	final volume, mL	displacement, mL	density, g/ cm³
1-1	37.5	156	181	25	1.5
1-2	31.1	129	150	21	1.48
1-3	24.5	110	127	17	1.44
1-4	18.6	90	103	13	1.43

The values for the Aluminum metal are shown in Table 2.

Table 2.

Aluminum:	mass, g	initial volume, mL	final volume, mL	displacement, mL	density, g/ cm³
1-1	34.6	118	131	13.0	2.66
1-2	41.7	150	166	16.0	2.61
1-3	48.2	169	186	17.0	2.83
1-4	56.6	204	225	21.0	2.70

The density was converted from g/mL to g/cm³ using the conversion 1mL/1cm³.

Discussion

Graph 1 represents the line of best fit for PVC plastic and Graph 2 represents the line of best fit for the Aluminum metal.

INSERT GRAPHS HERE

For the experimental error, the average of the PVC plastic and Aluminum densities were calculated. For PVC, the result was 1.46 g/cm³ and for Aluminum the result was 2.7 g/cm³. The experimental error was calculated using the equation:

experimental error = (|predicted value - experimental value|/ predicted value) x 100%

The PVC plastic error was 4.28 % and the Aluminum error was 0%.

The error was very low so our results were very close to the published results.

The teams hypothesis was that the team could accurately predict the density of the samples of PVC plastic and Aluminum. The results were definitive and the hypothesis was confirmed.

Conclusion

The team did accurately predict the densities of the sections of PVC plastic and Aluminum, so the hypothesis was confirmed. The results were very similar to the published values so the teams values were very accurate.