Density converter

Convert between g/cm³, kg/m³ and lb/ft³, and see where your material sits between air, water, steel and gold.

Density

From To

1,000kg/m³

That's about the same as water. That is lighter than water, so it floats.

What it means

How dense is that?

Reference densities are at room temperature. Water is exactly 1,000 kg/m³ at 4 °C.

Every unit

Your density in every unit

Learn

Water is 1, and that is the whole scale

If a density is under 1 g/cm³ it floats; over 1 it sinks. Ice is 0.92, which is why it floats and why pipes burst.
Archimedes and the crown

The story goes that Archimedes checked a crown for gold by comparing its volume of displaced water with its weight. Density had caught a fraud.
Density is not weight

A tonne of feathers and a tonne of lead weigh the same; the feathers just fill a room. Density tells you how much space that weight takes.

Background

Density is mass divided by volume. Water is the reference point: 1 g/cm³, or 1,000 kg/m³. Anything lighter floats on it, anything heavier sinks.

The numbers are the same in g/cm³, g/ml and kg/L, which is one of the quiet conveniences of the metric system.