How to Calculate Grams to Milliliters for the Percentage of Solids

Calculate milliliters of mercury (Hg) from grams of mercury.

The platypus of Australia is an odd creature: it has a bill like a duck, it swims like an otter, and it's one of the very few mammals that lay eggs. The physical property of substance density is odd too. Like the platypus, it has incongruous features, combining a volume component (cubic centimeters, for example) and a mass component (grams, for example). This characteristic of density, the fact that it relates the volume of a substance to the mass of that volume of the substance, allows you to use it to calculate from grams to milliliters of a substance. Keep in mind, however, that your percentage of solids calculation requires mass, or grams, and not volume, which is milliliters.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil
• Paper
• Table of substance densities
• Calculator

Instructions

1. Write the weight in grams of the substance you want to analyze for calculating percentage of solids in a solution. For example, you have 27 grams of mercury (Hg) in solution. You write "27 g."

2. Consult a table of substance densities in a textbook or online and learn the density in grams per cubic centimeter of the substance you are analyzing. For example, you learn that mercury at 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) has a density of 13,579 kilograms per cubic meter.

3. Multiply the density of your substance in kilograms by 1,000 to convert it to grams using a calculator. For example, 13,579 x 1000 = 13,579,000. Density is often given in grams per cubic centimeter. If your density value is in grams per cubic centimeter, do not perform this step.

4. Divide your answer by 100 cubed (100 x 100 x 100) to convert it from cubic meters to cubic centimeters. For example 13579000/(100 x 100 x 100) = 13.579 grams per cubic centimeter. Density is often given in grams per cubic centimeter. If your density value is in grams per cubic centimeter, do not perform this step.

5. Divide the number you have written, or the mass of the substance, by the density of the substance, using a calculator. For example, 27/13.579 = 1.9883.

6. Write your answer as milliliters, remembering that one cubic centimeter by definition equals one milliliter. For example you write, "1.9883 milliliters (mL)." A mass of 27 grams of mercury equals a volume of 1.9883 milliliters of mercury.

References

• "Organic Chemistry"; John McMurry; 2007
• University of Colorado, Boulder: The Organic Chemistry Laboratory Notebook: Theoretical Yield and Useful Nomenclature
• The Engineering ToolBox: Mercury -- Properties
• Towson University: Concentration Units

Resources

• The Engineering ToolBox: Mercury -- Properties