Density

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This article is about volumetric mass density. For other uses, see Density
(disambiguation).
The density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol of
density is ρ (the Greek letter rho).

Contents
[hide]
• 1 Formula

• 2 History

• 3 Measurement of density

• 4 Common units

• 5 Changes of density

• 6 Density of water

• 7 Density of air

• 8 Density of solutions

• 9 Density of composite material

• 10 Densities of various materials

• 11 References

• 12 See also

• 13 External links

[edit] Formula
Mathematically:

where:
ρ is the density,
m is the mass,
 V is the volume.
Different materials usually have different densities, so density is an important concept
regarding buoyancy, metal purity and packaging.
In some cases density is expressed as the dimensionless quantities specific gravity (SG)
or relative density (RD), in which case it is expressed in multiples of the density of some
other standard material, usually water or air/gas.

[edit] History
In a well-known common story, Archimedes was given the task of determining whether
King Hiero's goldsmith was embezzling gold during the manufacture of a wreath
dedicated to the gods and replacing it with another, cheaper alloy.[1]
Archimedes knew that the irregularly shaped wreath could be crushed into a cube whose
volume could be calculated easily and compared with the weight; but the king did not
approve of this.
Baffled, Archimedes took a relaxing immersion bath and observed from the rise of the
warm water upon entering that he could calculate the volume of the gold crown through
the displacement of the water. Allegedly, upon this discovery, he went running naked
through the streets shouting, "Eureka! Eureka!" (Greek "I found it"). As a result, the term
"eureka" entered common parlance and is used today to indicate a moment of
enlightenment.
This story first appeared in written form in Vitruvius' books of architecture, two centuries
after it supposedly took place.[2] Some scholars have doubted the accuracy of this tale,
saying among other things that the method would have required precise measurements
that would have been difficult to make at the time. [3][4]

[edit] Measurement of density

For a homogeneous object, the mass divided by the volume gives the density. The mass is
normally measured with an appropriate scale or balance; the volume may be measured
directly (from the geometry of the object) or by the displacement of a fluid. Hydrostatic
weighing is a method that combines these two.
If the body is not homogeneous or heterogeneous, the density is a function of the
coordinates , where dv is elementary volume with coordinates . The
mass of the body then can be expressed as

,
where the integration is over the volume of the body V.
A very common instrument for the direct measurement of the density of a liquid is the
hydrometer, which measures the volume displaced by an object of known mass. A
common laboratory device for measuring fluid density is a pycnometer; a related device
for measuring the absolute density of a solid is a gas pycnometer. Another instrument
used to determine the density of a liquid or a gas is the digital density meter - based on
the oscillating U-tube principle.
The density of a solid material can be ambiguous, depending on exactly how its volume
is defined, and this may cause confusion in measurement. A common example is sand: if
gently filled into a container, the density will be low; when the same sand is compacted
into the same container, it will occupy less volume and consequently exhibit a greater
density. This is because sand, like all powders and granular solids contains a lot of air
space in between individual grains; this overall density is called the bulk density, which
differs significantly from the density of an individual grain of sand.

[edit] Common units

The SI unit for density is:
• kilograms per cubic metre (kg/m³)

Metric units outside the SI

• kilograms per litre (kg/L). At 4 °C, water has a density of 1.000 kg/L, making this
a convenient unit at about the room temperature,
• kilograms per cubic decimeter (kg/dm³),

• grams per millilitre (g/mL),

• grams per cubic centimeter (g/cc or g/cm³).

These are all numerically equivalent to kg/L (1 kg/L = 1 kg/dm³ = 1 g/cm³ = 1 g/mL).
In U.S. customary units or Imperial units, the units of density include:
• ounces per cubic inch (oz/cu in)

• pounds per cubic inch (lb/cu in)

• pounds per cubic foot (lb/cu ft)

• pounds per cubic yard (lb/cu yd)

• pounds per gallon (for U.S. or imperial gallons) (lb/gal)

• pounds per U.S. bushel (lb/bu)

• slugs per cubic foot.

[edit] Changes of density

In general density can be changed by changing either the pressure or the temperature.
Increasing the pressure will always increase the density of a material. Increasing the
temperature generally decreases the density, but there are notable exceptions to this
generalisation. For example, the density of water increases between its melting point at
0 °C and 4 °C and similar behaviour is observed in silicon at low temperatures.
The effect of pressure and temperature on the densities of liquids and solids is small so
that a typical compressibility for a liquid or solid is 10–6 bar–1 (1 bar=0.1 MPa) and a
typical thermal expansivity is 10–5 K–1.
In contrast, the density of gases is strongly affected by pressure. Boyle's law says that the
density of an ideal gas is given by

where R is the universal gas constant, P is the pressure, M the molar mass, and T the
absolute temperature.
This means that a gas at 300 K and 1 bar will have its density doubled by increasing the
pressure to 2 bar or by reducing the temperature to 150 K.
Osmium is the densest known substance at standard conditions for temperature and
pressure.

[edit] Density of water

See also: Water density
Temp (°C) Density (kg/m3)
100 958.4
80 971.8
60 983.2
40 992.2
30 995.6502
25 997.0479
22 997.7735
20 998.2071
15 999.1026
10 999.7026
4 999.9720
0 999.8395
−10 998.117
−20 993.547
−30 983.854
The density of water in kilograms per cubic meter (SI unit)
at various temperatures in degrees Celsius.
The values below 0 °C refer to supercooled water.

[edit] Density of air

T in °C ρ in kg/m3 (at 1 atm)
–25 1.423
–20 1.395
–15 1.368
–10 1.342
–5 1.316
0 1.293
5 1.269
10 1.247
15 1.225
20 1.204
25 1.184
30 1.164
35 1.146

[edit] Density of solutions

The density of a solution is the sum of the mass (massic)
concentrations of the components of that solution.
Mass (massic) concentration of a given component ρi in a solution can be
called partial density of that component.

[edit] Density of composite material

ASTM specification D792-00[5] describes the steps to measure the density of a composite

material.
where:
ρ is the density of the composite material, in g/cm3
and
Wa is the weight of the specimen when hung in the air
Ww is the weight of the partly immersed wire holding the specimen
Wb is the weight of the specimen when immersed fully in distilled water, along
with the partly immersed wire holding the specimen
0.9975 is the density in g/cm3 of the distilled water at 23°C

[edit] Densities of various materials

 Material ρ in kg/m3 Notes
Interstellar medium 10-25 − 10-15 Assuming 90% H, 10% He; variable T
Earth's atmosphere 1.2 At sea level
Aerogel 1−2
Styrofoam 30 − 120 From
Cork 220 − 260 From
Water 1000 At STP
Plastics 850 − 1400 For polypropylene and PETE/PVC
The Earth 5515.3 Mean density
Copper 8920 − 8960 Near room temperature
Lead 11340 Near room temperature
Tungsten 19250 Near room temperature
Gold 19300 Near room temperature
The Inner Core of
~13000 As listed in Earth
the Earth
Uranium 19100 Near room temperature
Iridium 22500 Near room temperature
Osmium 22610 Near room temperature
The core of the Sun ~150000
White dwarf star 1 × 109[6]
Atomic nuclei 2.3 × 1017 [7] Does not depend strongly on size of nucleus
8.4 × 10 — 1
16
Neutron star
× 1018
Mean density inside the Schwarzschild radius of an
Black hole 4 × 1017
earth-mass black hole (theoretical)

[edit] References
1. ^ Archimedes, A Gold Thief and Buoyancy - by Larry "Harris" Taylor, Ph.D.
2. ^ Vitruvius on Architecture, Book IX, paragraphs 9-12, translated into English
and in the original Latin.
3. ^ The first Eureka moment, Science 305: 1219, August 2004.
4. ^ Fact or Fiction?: Archimedes Coined the Term "Eureka!" in the Bath, Scientific
American, December 2006.
5. ^ (2004). Test Methods for Density and Specific Gravity (Relative Density) of
Plastics by Displacement. ASTM Standard D792-00. Vol 81.01. American Society
for Testing and Materials. West Conshohocken. PA.
6. ^ Extreme Stars: White Dwarfs & Neutron Stars, Jennifer Johnson, lecture notes,
 Astronomy 162, Ohio State University. Accessed on line May 3, 2007.
7. ^ Nuclear Size and Density, HyperPhysics, Georgia State University. Accessed on
line June 26, 2009.

[edit] See also

• List of elements by density

• Charge density

• Buoyancy

• Bulk density

• Dord

• Energy density

• Lighter than air

• Number density

• Specific weight

• Standard temperature and pressure

• Orders of magnitude (density)

• Density prediction by the Girolami method

[edit] External links

• Glass Density Calculation - Calculation of the density of glass at room
temperature and of glass melts at 1000 - 1400°C
• List of Elements of the Periodic Table - Sorted by Density

• Calculation of saturated liquid densities for some components

• Water - Density and Specific Weight

• Temperature dependence of the density of water - Conversions of density units