What is density of water

While you can round the density to 1 gram per milliliter, there are more precise values for you to use. A standard table lists the values for the density of liquid water. Note that water can be supercooled and remain a liquid well below its normal freezing point. The maximum density of water occurs around 4 degrees Celsius. Ice is less dense than liquid water, so it floats.

Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Density is the ratio of the mass to the volume of a substance:. Specific weight is the ratio of the weight to the volume of a substance:. In the Imperial system the mass unit is the slug [sl] , and is derived from the pound-force by defining it as the mass that will accelerate at 1 foot per square second when a 1 pound-force acts upon it :.

The density of water is 1. See more about the difference between mass and weight. The calculator below can be used to calculate the liquid water density at given temperatures. See Water and Heavy Water for thermodynamic properties at standard condtions. See also other properties of Water at varying temperature and pressure : Boiling points at high pressure , Boiling points at vacuum pressure , Dynamic and kinematic viscosity , Enthalpy and entropy , Heat of vaporization , Ionization Constant, pK w , of normal and heavy water , Melting points at high pressure , Prandtl number , Properties at Gas-Liquid Equilibrium Conditions , Saturation pressure , Specific gravity , Specific heat heat capacity , Specific volume , Thermal conductivity , Thermal diffusivity and Vapour pressure at gas-liquid equilibrium.

The density of water is the mass of water per unit of volume. For all practical purposes, this is the same as the weight of water per unit of volume.

The exact value is actually slightly lower and depends on temperature. The maximum density of water is 0. Fortunately, there are tables of density values for different temperatures:. In addition to temperature, other factors affect the density of water. Density also depends on how much dissolved material is in the water. Dissolved gases might make water less dense.

Density is just the weight for a chosen amount volume of the material. Growing up with an older brother was difficult, especially when he had his friends over, for their favorite activity was thinking of ways to antagonize me.

I was able to use water density once to at least play a trick on them, though. One hot summer day they climbed the huge hill next to our house to dig a hole to hide their bottle-cap collection. They got thirsty and made me go back home and bring them a gallon of water. So, when they demanded another gallon of water, I consulted the "Internet" of that day—an encyclopedia— and found out that a gallon of water at the boiling point only weighed 7.

I ran up the hill carrying my gallon of water that weighed 0. Source: U. Nyler, If you look at this picture you can see that some of the iceberg is below the water level.

This is not a surprise, but actually almost all of the volume of an iceberg is below the water line, not above it. This is due to ice's density being less than liquid water's density. Upon freezing, the density of ice decreases by about 9 percent. The best way to visualize how water can have different densities is to look at the frozen form of water. Ice actually has a very different structure than liquid water, in that the molecules align themselves in a regular lattice rather than more randomly as in the liquid form.

It happens that the lattice arrangement allows water molecules to be more spread out than in a liquid, and, thus, ice is less dense than water. Again, lucky for us, as we would not hear that delightful tinkle of ice cubes against the side of a glass if the ice in our ice tea sank to the bottom. The density of ice is about 90 percent that of water, but that can vary because ice can contain air, too.

That means that about 10 percent of an ice cube or iceberg will be above the water line. This property of water is critical for all life on earth. If water was most dense at the freezing point, then in winter the very cold water at the surface of lakes would sink, the lake could freeze from the bottom up. And, with water being such a good insulator due to its heat capacity , some frozen lakes might not totally thaw in summer. The real-world explanation of water density is actually more complicated, as the density of water also varies with the amount of material that is dissolved in it.

Water in nature contains minerals, gasses, salts, and even pesticides and bacteria, some of which are dissolved. As more material is dissolved in a gallon of water then that gallon will weigh more and be more dense— ocean water is denser than pure water.