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Glossary term: Density

Description: Density is a physical characteristic of a substance or object that expresses the relationship of its volume to its mass. The higher the density, the greater the mass per unit volume. The average density of an object is its total mass divided by its total volume. Its SI unit is kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m3).

Densities in the region of the Milky Way around the Sun can range from about 10-20 kg/m3 for interstellar gas to more than 1017 kg/m3 for the interiors of neutron stars.

Everyday densities on Earth fall between those extremes, with iron at about 7800 kg/m3, water at around 1000 kg/m3 and the air that surrounds us at sea-level at a bit more than 1 kg/m3.

The Universe includes not just the stars, planets, and gas in galaxies, but also the relatively empty space between galaxies and between clusters of galaxies. This leads to an average density of matter in the Universe of the order of 10-27 kg/m3.

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Term and definition status: This term and its definition have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher

The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".

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A female astronaut points at the planet Saturn which appears to float on a vast ocean, with annotations in Arabic

Can Saturn Really Float on Water? The Science Behind This Fascinating Fact

Caption: This infographic is part of the "Simplifying Astronomy for Arabic Speakers" project, which aims to present fun and engaging scientific facts about space in an easy-to-understand way. This design explores a fascinating yet scientifically accurate fact: Saturn, the gas giant, could float if placed in an enormous body of water! Why Can Saturn Float? The primary reason for this is Saturn’s low density. Density refers to the amount of mass per unit volume and is measured in grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm³). Saturn's density is 0.687 g/cm³, which is lower than the density of water (1 g/cm³). According to Archimedes' Principle, any object with a density lower than the fluid it is placed in will float, whereas objects with a higher density will sink. How Does Saturn’s Composition Affect This? Saturn is primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, two of the lightest elements in the universe. This makes Saturn much less dense than water. While the planet has a denser rocky and metallic core, it is not massive enough to increase the overall density of the planet beyond that of water. What If We Actually Placed Saturn in Water? If, hypothetically, we could find a gigantic body of water large enough to fit Saturn, the planet would float on the surface because the buoyant force would be greater than the gravitational force pulling it down. However, this is purely a theoretical concept, as no such cosmic-scale water body exists. Conclusion This fun fact about Saturn is one of the most intriguing astronomical truths, demonstrating how science can be both surprising and exciting. If you're a space enthusiast, there are countless fascinating cosmic phenomena waiting to be explored!
Credit: Ali Al-Edhari

License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons