By definition, density is mass per unit volume. In other words, it is the amount of matter packed into a space.
The symbol most commonly used for density is ρ (the lower case Greek letter rho). The capital letter D is also used. Density is an intensive property of matter, which means the size of a sample does not affect its value. It is a physical property of matter, meaning you measure density without requiring any chemical reaction. Density commonly is expressed in units of grams per milliliter and kilograms per liter.
Density Formula
The equation for density is:
density = mass / volume
ρ = m/V
The reciprocal of density (V/m) is its specific volume.
Density Examples
Density tends to be higher for solids than for liquids, which are in turn more dense than gases. For example, the density of iron is 7.87 g/ml. The density of pure water (a defined value) is 1 gram per milliliter. The density of air is only about 0.012 g/ml.
Common Misspellings
The two most common misspelling of density are dencity and densety.
References
- Serway, Raymond; Jewett, John (2005). Principles of Physics: A Calculus-Based Text. Cengage Learning. ISBN 0-534-49143-X.
- Sharma, P. V. (1997). Environmental and Engineering Geophysics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139171168 doi:10.1017/CBO9781139171168
- Young, Hugh D.; Freedman, Roger A. (2012). University Physics with Modern Physics. ISBN 978-0-321-69686-1.