Density describes mass per unit volume.
Difficulty
Beginner
Read time
5 min
Prerequisites
Basic algebra and consistent SI units
Source
OpenStax, College Physics 2e, §11.2 (Paul Peter Urone and Roger Hinrichs)Textbook reference retained from the OpenFormulaGraph dataset; adaptation credits and license are provided below.
Adapted from OpenFormulaGraph, under CC BY 4.0.
FormuLab adapted the notation, explanations, assumptions, and topic placement, and expanded the numerical check into a worked example.
Density describes mass per unit volume. For a nonuniform object, total mass divided by total volume gives its average density. It does not describe how the mass is distributed inside that volume.
| Symbol | Meaning | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Average mass density | ||
| Mass | ||
| Occupied volume |
Compare the masses of equal volumes.
Supply density for buoyancy or flow calculations.
A sample has mass 10.0 kg and occupies 2.00 m³. Find its average density.
Textbook reference retained from the OpenFormulaGraph dataset; adaptation credits and license are provided below.
Adapted from OpenFormulaGraph, under CC BY 4.0.
FormuLab adapted the notation, explanations, assumptions, and topic placement, and expanded the numerical check into a worked example.
Assumptions
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