density

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Introduction

Compactness of a substance; the ratio of mass to unit volume, expressed as g/cm3 (kg/m3 in SI system).

density = mass/volume or D = M/V

Density is constant for a given substance at a given temperature; also an intensive property, a property that does not depend on the amount of material examined.

Mass & volume are extensive properties, in that they depend on the amount of material in a sample. e.g., the volume occupied by 2 kg of lead is twice that of 1 kg of lead, but both samples have the same density.

[Latin, densitas, from densus = thick]

Density may also to refer to an object more dense than its surroundings, for example postsynaptic density.

More general terms

More specific terms

References

  1. Stedman's Medical Dictionary 27th ed, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, 1999.
  2. General Chemistry with Qualitative Analysis, KW Whitten & KD Gailey, Saunders College Publishing, New York, NY 1981.