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Density Calculator

Result

1,000.000kg/m³

Result: 1,000.000 kg/m³
How the result movesm³ → kg/m³

Density is mass divided by volume: 1 kg of water filling 0.001 m³ — one litre — gives 1000 kg/m³. Enter kilograms and cubic metres and the answer comes out in kg/m³. Anything lighter than 1000 kg/m³ floats on water, anything heavier sinks. Divide by 1000 for g/cm³.

Worked examples

How it's calculated

Density = mass ÷ volume

  1. StepWeigh the sample in kilograms.
  2. StepMeasure the volume it fills in cubic metres — one litre is 0.001 m³.
  3. ResultRead the density in kg/m³, or divide by 1000 for g/cm³.

What this number means

Density is mass divided by volume — how much matter is packed into each cubic metre. It is what separates a feather from a brick of the same size, and for a given material at a given temperature it is fixed, which is why it works as a fingerprint. Enter kilograms and cubic metres and the answer comes back in kg/m³. One kilogram of water filling a one-litre bottle is 1 ÷ 0.001 = 1000 kg/m³, which is also exactly 1 g/cm³, the unit chemistry usually prefers. The same number answers three different questions. Buoyancy: water sits at about 1000 kg/m³, so anything below that floats and anything above sinks — ice at 917 kg/m³ floats, which is why icebergs show above the sea, while aluminium at 2700, iron at 7870 and gold at 19,300 kg/m³ go straight down. Identity: a metal sample landing near 2700 kg/m³ is far more likely aluminium than steel. Logistics: because density links mass to volume, either one gives you the other. Two caveats are worth keeping. Density shifts with temperature and pressure, so published figures always state a temperature. And what you get here is an average — a porous, hollow or mixed object returns a blended value, not the density of the solid material.

kg/m³ and g/cm³ are the same scale

Water sits at 1000 kg/m³, which is exactly 1 g/cm³. Divide by a thousand to move between the two — nothing else changes.

One number, three questions

It tells you whether something floats, which material it probably is, and how much a given volume weighs. Water at 1000 kg/m³ is the line for the first of those.

Published figures come with a temperature

Density shifts with temperature and pressure, which is why every table states the conditions. Comparing a warm sample against a table at 20 °C introduces an error the calculation cannot see.

Commonly misread

The result is the density of the material.

It is the average over the whole object. Anything porous, hollow or mixed returns a blended value, not the density of the solid.

Heavy things sink, light things float.

Density decides it, not weight. A steel ship floats and a steel bolt sinks because the ship encloses air and the bolt does not.

Reference table

Mass (kg), volume (m³)MaterialDensity (kg/m³)
0, 1Empty container0
10, 2Ultralight foam5
1, 0.001Water1000
2700, 1Aluminium2700
7.87, 0.001Iron7870

Questions

How do I calculate density?

Divide the mass by the volume: density = mass ÷ volume. For 1 kg of water filling 0.001 m³ (one litre), that is 1 ÷ 0.001 = 1000 kg/m³. Keep mass in kilograms and volume in cubic metres to get the result in kg/m³.

What units does the density calculator use?

Mass in kilograms (kg), volume in cubic metres (m³), and density in kilograms per cubic metre (kg/m³). One litre is 0.001 m³, so a 1-litre bottle weighing 1 kg has a density of 1000 kg/m³.

How does density tell me whether something floats?

Compare it to water, which has a density of about 1000 kg/m³. Anything less dense than water (below 1000 kg/m³) floats, and anything denser (above 1000 kg/m³) sinks. Ice at 917 kg/m³ floats; iron at 7870 kg/m³ sinks.

What are some common densities?

At room temperature: water is about 1000 kg/m³, ice 917, aluminium 2700, iron 7870, and gold 19,300 kg/m³. Comparing your result to these anchors helps you identify a material or sanity-check a measurement.

How do I convert kg/m³ to g/cm³?

Divide by 1000: 1000 kg/m³ equals 1 g/cm³. So water is 1 g/cm³, aluminium 2.7 g/cm³, and gold 19.3 g/cm³. The g/cm³ unit is common in chemistry and is just the kg/m³ value scaled down by a thousand.

Sources and last check

  1. en.wikipedia.org

Information, not professional advice.