Whether gasoline floats or sinks on water depends on the specific gravity of both liquids.
The specific gravity of a liquid measures how dense that liquid is compared to another standard volume of water.
Liquids with a higher specific gravity are more dense than those with a lower one. So if you measured the density of gasoline and water at the same temperature and pressure, gasoline would always be heavier than water.
Let’s take a closer look at whether gasoline floats or sinks and why.
The specific gravity of a substance is defined as the ratio of the density of the substance to the density of water.
Therefore, the specific gravity of gasoline is less than that of water, meaning it is lighter than water.
1. Density is measured by mass, not volume
The density of a substance is the mass per unit volume of that substance.
If you compare the amount of H20 to the amount of gasoline needed to fill a given volume, you’ll see that gasoline is actually less dense than water.
This means that the volume of a liquid varies with temperature and pressure.
Although this is a bit oversimplified, you can think of density as the amount of “stuff” in a given volume.
That is, water is about 10% more dense than gasoline, which is why gasoline floats on water.
Gasoline consists mainly of long hydrocarbon chains with a molecular mass of around 80-95 g/mol.
This means that gasoline molecules are much heavier than water molecules.
However, it is important to note that molar mass is a very limited way of determining density.
The density of a liquid is primarily determined by the number of dissolved molecules: the more molecules there are in a given volume, the greater the density of the liquid.
Because water molecules are smaller than gasoline molecules, there are more of them in a given volume.
This means that the overall density of gasoline (including ethanol added as antifreeze) is actually less than that of water.
3. Air is denser than gasoline
Because oxygen is heavier than nitrogen, the air in a fuel tank is denser than gasoline.
4. Water is denser than oil
Crude oil contains many different compounds with different molecular weights.
However, the most common compound is methane (CH4) with a molecular mass of 16 g/mol.
For comparison: water has a molecular mass of 18 g/mol.
For comparison: water has a molecular mass of 18 g/mol.
This means that water has a greater density than crude oil.
Crude oil is often found near the surface of ponds and lakes because it is less dense than the water around it.
Gasoline has a lower specific gravity than water, which means it’s less dense than water.
This means gasoline will naturally rise to the top of a nearby water source, meaning it will naturally float on the water’s surface.
In fact, gasoline is a mixture of several different hydrocarbons, and one of them is toxic benzene, which is heavier than water.
This means that while gasoline has a lower specific gravity than water, it also contains a heavier substance that causes it to sink.
To mix the two substances, one could now pour the water into the gasoline.
In most cases you will find that the gasoline mixes with the water.
Because it is less dense than water, it floats in water.
However, if you take a sample of gasoline and put it in water and let it sit together, the gasoline will sink to the bottom of the container.
When gasoline mixes with water, it forms an emulsion that is the same weight as the original volume of gasoline before mixing with water (it’s 7 times heavier than fresh water).
The reason oil floats on water is because oil molecules are lighter than those in fresh water (fresh water exists).
When does gasoline float on water?
When the water temperature is lower than the gasoline temperature, the gasoline is lighter than the water.
As the gasoline floats to the surface of the water, it displaces the less volatile water below and creates a hazard.
When the temperature of water and gasoline are the same, there is no difference in density between the two.
This means that the liquid has no reason to “float” on the water.
Let’s say you mix a large sample of water and gasoline.
In this case, depending on the proportion of each substance, you can notice that the fuel floats on the surface of the water or sinks to the bottom.
Well, of course, if you have more gasoline than water, its lower specific gravity will make it rise to the top of the mix since it displaces less water than the water.
However, if you have more water than gasoline, gasoline tends to sink to the bottom.
In fact, gasoline is so dense that if you have more than nine times more water, it will sink to the bottom of the water, whether you pour the water into the gasoline or vice versa.
Combining gasoline and water can be dangerous as it creates an explosive mixture.
The mixture of the two liquids forms a chemical called methyl alcohol, which is highly flammable.
Gasoline floats on water because its specific gravity is less than one.
In other words, it’s lighter than water.
While gasoline floats on water, other lower density (specific gravity) liquids also float on water.
Concentration refers to the amount of matter in a specific volume of a substance at a specific temperature and pressure.
A mole (mol) equals 6.022 x 1023 particles and molecules; 1 mole of any substance contains Avogadro
The specific gravity of a liquid is determined by measuring how dense that liquid is compared to another standard volume of water.
Gasoline has a specific gravity of 0.7, which means it’s not weightless, but it’s also not nearly as heavy as water or other common liquids like motor oil or ethanol.
Gasoline has a specific gravity of 0.7, which means it’s not weightless, but it’s also not nearly as heavy as water or other common liquids like motor oil or ethanol.
If you were to pour a sample of gasoline into a glass of water, you would find that the gasoline did not mix with the water.
Depending on the proportions of each substance, you may find that the fuel floats on the water surface or sinks to the bottom.