Design and Prototype of Specific Gravity based Element Identifier

All elements have distinct density and this special feature make them can be
effectively identified. The concept of buoyouncy and Archimedes' theory is applied
in this project to find the volume of the elements. According to Archimedes, The
buoyant force on a submerged object is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced.
This principle is useful for determining the volume and therefore the density of an
irregularly shaped object by measuring its mass in air and its effective mass when
submerged in water. This effective mass under water will be its actual mass minus
the mass of the fluid displaced. The difference between the real and effective mass
therefore gives the mass of water displaced and allows the calculation of the volume
of the irregularly shaped object. Then the specific gravity of the elements is
calculated and the value is compared to the table to identify the corresponding
elements
The element identifier that is design in this project should be able to measure
actual specific gravity of all the elements to achieve accurate reading and able to
identify the elements correctly. However there are some errors that can not be
avoided during the measurement process. The most difficult error to be avoided is
vibration error because this element identifier uses water to measure the volume of
the elements. The vibration error will occur during the submerging process of the
elements into the water. Other errors that are discussed in this report are quantization
error that occurs in process of converting the analogue reading to digital.