Density
Want to understand density? We've got you covered. From the basics to real-world examples, we explain density in an easy-to-follow way. Plus, check out our handy table of densities for different materials.
Density of Substances in Physics
Density indicates the mass per unit volume of a substance.
$$ \begin{aligned}
\varrho &= \dfrac{m}{V}
\end{aligned} $$
| Symbol | Name | Quantity | Unit |
| \(\varrho\) | Rho | Density | g/cm3, kg/m3, g/l |
| \(m\) | Mass | kg | |
| \(V\) | Volume | m3 |
Unit conversion:
$$ \begin{aligned} 1 \dfrac{\mathrm{g}}{\mathrm{cm^3}} = 1 \dfrac{\mathrm{kg}}{\mathrm{dm^3}} = 1000 \dfrac{\mathrm{kg}}{\mathrm{m^3}}\\[10pt]
1 \dfrac{\mathrm{kg}}{\mathrm{m^3}} = 0,001 \dfrac{\mathrm{kg}}{\mathrm{dm^3}} = 0,001 \dfrac{\mathrm{g}}{\mathrm{cm^3}}\\ \end{aligned} $$
Density of selected substances in g/cm3 or 1000 kg/m3:
| Substance | Density |
| Aluminum | 2,710 |
| Ice (at 0 °C) | 0,917 |
| Cast iron | 7,250 |
| Copper | 8,960 |
| Magnesium | 1,738 |
| Unalloyed steel | 7,850 |
| Water (at 0 °C) | 1,000 |