5) [12 pt] The density of a substance gives the relationship between mass and volume (=m/V) and is dependent on both the substance itself and the temperature of the substance. At 3.98C the density of water is 1000 kg m^-3 or 1 g/mL the most dense freshwater can be. Ice at 0C is less dense than cold water, which is why icebergs float, why there is ice on the top of lakes in the winter, and why ice cubes float at the top of your water glass.

Snow is much, much less dense than liquid water. In areas of the world where snow is the main water source, scientists measure the density and volume of the snow to predict how much water will be available when the snow melts. To do this they calculate the snow water equivalent, or SWE, which is the depth of water contained within the snowpack and usually reported as either a percent or a decimal of the depth of the snowpack (i.e.: if your snowpack was 36 and your SWE was 0.10 (or 10%), the depth of water when the snow melts would be 3.6 inches).

Imagine you selected a 3.5 m by 3.5 m plot on the ground which is uniformly covered with 85 cm of snow. You carefully collect a sample from the plot that has a volume of 1.5 liters of snow and find that it weighs 260 grams. What is the SWE of the snow in your plot? If the snow in this plot melted, how deep would the resulting water be? Perform the calculations using the steps on the next page and watch sig figs. Since each part here is a step to take to solving the question of how much water is present in the snow, do not apply any rounding for sig figs until parts e and f. (note: these numbers represent a SWE similar to what you would expect for damp snow that falls in Ohio).