Density Calculator

Please provide any two values to the fields below to calculate the third value in the density equation of

ρ =  m
V
.

Modify the values and click the calculate button to use
Density (ρ)
Volume (V)
Mass (m)


The density of a material, typically denoted using the Greek symbol ρ, is defined as its mass per unit volume.

ρ =  
 m 
V
            where:
ρ is the density
m is the mass
V is the volume

The calculation of density is quite straightforward. However, it is important to pay special attention to the units used for density calculations. There are many different ways to express density, and not using or converting into the proper units will result in an incorrect value. It is useful to carefully write out whatever values are being worked with, including units, and perform dimensional analysis to ensure that the final result has units of

mass
volume
. Note that density is also affected by pressure and temperature. In the case of solids and liquids, the change in density is typically low. However, when regarding gases, density is largely affected by temperature and pressure. An increase in pressure decreases volume, and always increases density. Increases in temperature tend to decrease density since the volume will generally increase. There are exceptions however, such as water's density increasing between 0°C and 4°C.

Below is a table of units in which density is commonly expressed, as well as the densities of some common materials.

Common Density Units

Unit kg/m3
kilogram/cubic meter SI Unit
kilogram/cubic centimeter 1,000,000
gram/cubic meter [g/m3] 0.001
gram/cubic centimeter 1000
kilogram/liter [kg/L] 1000
gram/liter [g/L] 1
pound/cubic inch [lb/in3] 27,680
pound/cubic foot [lb/ft3] 16.02
pound/cubic yard [lb/yd3] 0.5933
pound/gallon (US) 119.83
pound/gallon (UK) 99.78
ounce/cubic inch [oz/in3] 1,730
ounce/cubic foot [oz/ft3] 1.001
ounce/gallon (US) 7.489
ounce/gallon (UK) 6.236
ton (short)/cubic yard 1,186.6
ton (long)/cubic yard 1,328.9
psi/1000 feet 2.3067

Density of Common Materials

Material Density in kg/m3
Earth's atmosphere at sea level 1.2
Water at standard temperature and pressure 1,000
The Earth 5,515.3
Iron 7,874
Copper 8,950
Tungsten 19,250
Gold 19,300
Platinum 21,450
Atomic nuclei 2.3×1017
Black hole above 1×1018
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