Density

The density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume.

The symbol of density is ρ (the Greek letter rho).
Formula

Mathematically:

ρ = m/ V
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.

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 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
though 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]
Measurement of density

Take a look at the two boxes below. Each box has the same volume. If each ball has
the same mass, which box would weigh more? Why?

The box that has more balls has more mass per unit of volume. This property of
matter is called density. The density of a material helps to distinguish it from other
materials. Since mass is usually expressed in grams and volume in cubic centimeters,
density is expressed in grams/cubic centimeter.

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.

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)آ‬

Metric units outside the SI

 kilograms per litre (kg/L). At 4 ‫آ‬°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)آ‬,
 grams per millilitre (g/mL),
 grams per cubic centimeter (g/cc or g/cm³‫)آ‬.

These are all numerically equivalent to kg/L (1 kg/L = 1 kg/dm1 = ³‫آ‬ g/cm = ³‫آ‬
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 ‫آ‬°C and 4 ‫آ‬°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

Density
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
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).

[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 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
though 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.

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.

Water - Density and Specific Weight

 [edit] Density of air
T in °C ρ in kg/m3 (at 1 atm)
–10 1.342
–5 1.316
0 1.293
[edit] Density of solutions
5 1.269 The density of a solution is the sum of the mass
10 1.247 (massic) concentrations of the components of that
solution. Mass (massic) concentration of a given
15 1.225 component ρi in a solution can be called partial
20 1.204 density of that component.
25 1.184
[edit] Density of composite material
30 1.165
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
Material ρ in kg/m3 Notes
Interstellar
10-25 − 10-15 Assuming 90% H, 10% He; variable T
medium
Earth's
1.2 At sea level
atmosphere
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
The Inner Core ~13000 As listed in Earth
Uranium 19100 Near room temperature
Iridium 22500 Near room temperature
The core of the
~150000
Sun
Atomic nuclei ~3 × 1017 As listed in neutron star
8.4 × 1016 − 1
Neutron star
× 1018
Mean density inside the Schwarzschild radius of an
Black hole 4 × 1017
earth-mass black hole (theoretical)

Buoyancy
 The forces at work in buoyancy

In physics, buoyancy (BrE IPA: /ˈbɔɪənsi/) is the upward force that keeps things
afloat. The net upward buoyancy force is equal to the magnitude of the weight of fluid
displaced by the body. This force enables the object to float or at least seem lighter.

[edit] Archimedes' principle

It is named after Archimedes of Syracuse, who first discovered this law. According to
Archimedes' principle, "Any object, wholly or partly immersed in a fluid, is buoyed
up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object."

Vitruvius (De architectura IX.9–12) recounts the famous story of Archimedes making
this discovery while in the bath. He was given the task of finding out if a goldsmith,
who worked for the king, was carefully replacing the king's gold with silver. While
doing this Archimedes decided he should take a break so went to take a bath. While
entering the bath he noticed that when he placed his legs in, water spilled over the
edge. Struck by a moment of realization, he shouted "Eureka!" He informed the king
that there was a way to positively tell if the smith was cheating him. Knowing that
gold has a higher density than silver, he placed the king's crown and then a gold
crown of equal weight into a pool. The king's crown caused more water to overflow,
showing that it had a greater volume for the same weight. It was, therefore, less dense
than gold, and Archimedes concluded that it contained silver, causing the smith to be
executed. The actual record of Archimedes' discoveries appears in his two-volume
work, On Floating Bodies. The ancient Chinese child prodigy Cao Chong (196–208
AD) also applied the principle of buoyancy in order to accurately weigh an elephant,
as described in the Sanguo Zhi, also known as the Records of Three Kingdoms.

Archimedes' principle does not consider the surface tension (capillarity) acting on the
body.[1]

The weight of the displaced fluid is directly proportional to the volume of the
displaced fluid (if the surrounding fluid is of uniform density). Thus, among
completely submerged objects with equal masses, objects with greater volume have
greater buoyancy.

Suppose a rock's weight is measured as 10 newtons when suspended by a string in a

vacuum. Suppose that when the rock is lowered by the string into water, it displaces
water of weight 3 newtons. The force it then exerts on the string from which it hangs
would be 10 newtons minus the 3 newtons of buoyant force: 10 − 3 = 7 newtons.
Buoyancy reduces the apparent weight of objects that have sunk completely to the sea
floor. It is generally easier to lift an object up through the water than it is to pull it out
of the water.

The density of the immersed object relative to the density of the fluid can easily be
calculated without measuring any volumes:

[edit] Forces and equilibrium

This is the equation to calculate the pressure inside a fluid in equilibrium. The
corresponding equilibrium equation is:

where is the force density exerted by some outer field on the fluid, and is the
stress tensor. We know that in our case the stress tensor is proportional to the identity
tensor: . Here is the kronecker delta symbol. Using this the above
equation becomes:

Now let's assume that the outer force field is conservative, that is it can be written as
the negative gradient of some scalar valued function: : . Hence we have:

As we see, we got that the shape of the open surface of a fluid equals the equipotential
plane of the applied outer conservative force field. Now let's put the z axis pointing
downwards. In our case we have gravity, so where g is the gravitational
acceleration, is the mass density of the fluid. Let the constant be zero, that is the
pressure zero where z is zero. So the pressure inside the fluid, when it is subject to
gravity:

So as we see, pressure increases with depth below the surface of a liquid, as z denotes
the distance from the surface of the liquid into it. Any object with a non-zero vertical
depth will have different pressures on its top and bottom, with the pressure on the
bottom being greater. This difference in pressure causes the upward buoyancy forces.
The buoyant force exerted on a body can now be calculated easily, since we know the
internal pressure of the fluid. We know that the force exerted on the body can be
calculated by integrating the stress tensor over the surface of the body:

The surface integral can be transformed into a volume integral with the help of the
Gauss-Ostrogradsky theorem  :

where V is obviously the measure of the volume in contact with the fluid, that is the
volume of the submerged part of the body. Since the fluid doesn't exert force on the
part of the body which is outside of it.

The magnitude of buoyant force may be appreciated a bit more from the following
argument. Consider any object of arbitrary shape and volume V surrounded by a
liquid. The force the liquid exerts on an object within the liquid is equal to the weight
of the liquid with a volume equal to that of the object. This force is applied in a
direction opposite to gravitational force that is, of magnitude:

, where is the density of the liquid, is the volume of the

displaced body of liquid , and is the gravitational acceleration at the location
in question.

Now, if we replace this volume of liquid by a solid body of the exact same shape, the
force the liquid exerts on it must be exactly the same as above. In other words the
"buoyant force" on a submerged body is directed in the opposite direction to gravity
and is equal in magnitude to :

The net force on the object is thus the sum of the buoyant force and the object's
weight

If the buoyancy of an (unrestrained and unpowered) object exceeds its weight, it tends
to rise. An object whose weight exceeds its buoyancy tends to sink.

Commonly, the object in question is floating in equilibrium and the sum of the forces
on the object is zero, therefore;

and therefore;
showing that the depth to which a floating object will sink (its "buoyancy") is
independent of the variation of the gravitational acceleration at various locations on
the surface of the Earth.

(Note: If the liquid in question is seawater, it will not have the same density (
) at every location. For this reason, a ship may display a Plimsoll line.)

It is common to define a buoyant mass mb that represents the effective mass of the
object with respect to gravity

where is the true (vacuum) mass of the object, whereas ρo and ρf are the average
densities of the object and the surrounding fluid, respectively. Thus, if the two
densities are equal, ρo = ρf, the object appears to be weightless. If the fluid density is
greater than the average density of the object, the object floats; if less, the object
sinks.

[edit] Compressive fluids

The atmosphere's density depends upon altitude. As an airship rises in the

atmosphere, its buoyancy decreases as the density of the surrounding air decreases. As
a submarine expels water from its buoyancy tanks (by pumping them full of air) it
rises because its volume is constant (the volume of water it displaces if it is fully
submerged) as its weight is decreased.

[edit] Compressible objects

As a floating object rises or falls, the forces external to it change and, as all objects
are compressible to some extent or another, so does the object's volume. Buoyancy
depends on volume and so an object's buoyancy reduces if it is compressed and
increases if it expands.

If an object at equilibrium has a compressibility less than that of the surrounding

fluid, the object's equilibrium is stable and it remains at rest. If, however, its
compressibility is greater, its equilibrium is then unstable, and it rises and expands on
the slightest upward perturbation, or falls and compresses on the slightest downward
perturbation.

Submarines rise and dive by filling large tanks with seawater. To dive, the tanks are
opened to allow air to exhaust out the top of the tanks, while the water flows in from
the bottom. Once the weight has been balanced so the overall density of the
submarine is equal to the water around it, it has neutral buoyancy and will remain at
that depth. Normally, precautions are taken to ensure that no air has been left in the
tanks. If air were left in the tanks and the submarine were to descend even slightly, the
increased pressure of the water would compress the remaining air in the tanks,
reducing its volume. Since buoyancy is a function of volume, this would cause a
decrease in buoyancy, and the submarine would continue to descend.

The height of a balloon tends to be stable. As a balloon rises it tends to increase in

volume with reducing atmospheric pressure, but the balloon's cargo does not expand.
The average density of the balloon decreases less, therefore, than that of the
surrounding air. The balloon's buoyancy decreases because the weight of the
displaced air is reduced. A rising balloon tends to stop rising. Similarly, a sinking
balloon tends to stop sinking.

[edit] Density

If the weight of an object is less than the weight of the displaced fluid when fully
submerged, then the object has an average density that is less than the fluid and has a
buoyancy that is greater than its own weight. If the fluid has a surface, such as water
in a lake or the sea, the object will float at a level where it displaces the same weight
of fluid as the weight of the object. If the object is immersed in the fluid, such as a
submerged submarine or air in a balloon, it will tend to rise. If the object has exactly
the same density as the fluid, then its buoyancy equals its weight. It will remain
submerged in the fluid, but it will neither sink nor float. An object with a higher
average density than the fluid has less buoyancy than weight and it will sink. A ship
floats because although it is made of steel, which is much denser than water, it
encloses a volume of air which is lighter than water, and the resulting shape has an
average density less than that of the water.

Buoyancy
When Archimedes stepped into his bathing pool, not only did he realize that
water spilled over the edges, but he also noticed something that we all notice
when we go swimming - he felt lighter. The ability of an object to "float" when
it is placed in a fluid is called buoyant force, and is related to density. If an
object is less dense than the fluid in which it is placed, it will "float" on the fluid.
If it is more dense than the fluid, it will "sink."
This concept explains why some objects float on water while others sink. For
example, wood floats on water because it is less dense; steel by comparison
sinks because it is denser than water. How, then, can large steel cruise ships
stay afloat? Large ships have a tremendous amount of space in them that is
filled with air (think about it: cabins, movie theaters, onboard casinos, etc.).
While steel is denser than water, air is less dense. Metal ships can float because
their total density is less than that of the water that they float on. When the
metal hull of a ship is breached, like when the Titanic struck an iceberg, water
rushes in and replaces the air in the ship’s hull. As a result, the total density of
the ship changes and causes the ship to sink.
This concept of changing density is commonly employed in another type of
ship, a submarine. A submarine has a constant volume but it can vary its mass
by taking in water into its ballast tanks. When water is taken in to the ballast
tanks, the mass (and thus density) of the submarine increases and the
submarine attains negative buoyancy that allows it to submerge into the ocean
depths. Conversely, when water is released from the ballast tanks the vessel’s
density decreases allowing it to surface.
The concept of density also explains another common phenomenon. Have you
ever noticed what happens to a bottle of oil and vinegar salad dressing when it
is allowed to sit still after it has been shaken? The oil will rise to the top and the
vinegar will settle to the bottom of the bottle. This happens because oil is less
dense than vinegar. When materials of different densities are put in contact
with one another, their densities will determine how they order themselves.
This phenomenon, where materials layer themselves according to their density,
is called superposition.
Another factor that can affect the density of a material is temperature (see our
Temperature module). Many materials expand when they are heated. Because a
material that expands will take up a larger volume, its density will decrease. This
fact most commonly occurs with gases and some liquids and explains how hot air
balloons work. When the air inside of a balloon is heated it expands and its
density decreases. The balloon thus gains positive buoyancy with respect to the
colder air surrounding it and it floats into the sky.
Density is an important physical property of matter. It is commonly used as a
means of categorizing and identifying different materials. In addition, a
thorough understanding of the concept of density is critical for building ships
and lighter-than-air craft such as hot air balloons.
Related Modules