Simulation Description: density
Density Simulation — Description
What the simulation is
It’s a 3D interactive lab for the AQA GCSE required practical on density (ρ = m ÷ V), built in the ClassAdapt house style with the full Adapt accessibility suite. Learners pick a sample from three tabs, each teaching a different measurement technique, then work through the calculation themselves.
Regular solid (aluminium block). Weigh the block on a digital balance, then measure length, width and height with a 3D ruler that lies against each edge in turn. Volume comes from l × w × h, and the block works out to about 2.70 g/cm³.
Irregular solid (a colourful mineral stone). Weigh the stone, fill a eureka (displacement) can from a jug, then lower the stone in so the water it displaces overflows through the spout into a beaker. That water is then poured into a measuring cylinder and read off — displacement giving the volume directly. The stone comes out around 7.87 g/cm³.
Liquid (salt solution). Place the empty measuring cylinder on the balance and tare it to zero, pour the salt solution in from a bottle, read the mass (the balance now shows the liquid alone), then read the volume at the meniscus. It works out to about 1.10 g/cm³.
Across all three, the final step opens an interactive calculator: learners are shown their measured mass and volume, type in their own value for ρ, and get staged hints and targeted feedback (including the classic “you divided volume by mass” nudge) rather than being handed the answer. At the volume-reading stage the camera zooms in on the meniscus so they read the scale themselves and click to continue when ready. The whole thing runs on a light, projector-safe theme by default, with the Adapt menu offering text-to-speech, a reading ruler, dyslexia spacing, colour-vision filters, reduced motion, a buttons-only (no-dragging) mode and more.
Suggested class activity
“Three routes to density” — a station or paired investigation (about 50–60 minutes)
Frame the lesson around one big question: why do we need three different methods to find volume?
Start by putting the aluminium tab on the projector and eliciting the formula and units as a class. Then have students work in pairs, each pair completing all three tabs and recording m, V and ρ in a simple results table before using the built-in calculator to check their own working. Ask them to pause at each volume-reading zoom and write down the reading themselves first, then compare with the simulation.
The thinking happens in the follow-up discussion:
- Why can’t we use l × w × h for the stone or the liquid?
- Why must you tare the cylinder before pouring the liquid, not after?
- Which method do they think introduces the most measurement error, and why?
For a plenary or extension, get them to sort the three samples by density and predict which would float in water (the salt solution and both solids all sink — a nice prompt for “so what would float?”). Stronger students can rearrange ρ = m ÷ V to find an unknown mass or volume, or design a fourth method for an object that floats.
The accessibility features let you adapt this without singling anyone out: buttons-only mode for learners who struggle with dragging, text-to-speech and the reading ruler for the instructions, and reduced motion if the animations are distracting.