Density is a physical property of matter. Density is the amount of matter occupying a space. The more matter in that space, the greater the density. Matter can be in either a solid, gaseous, plasma or liquid form. Mathematically, density is expressed as a ratio of mass to a given volume as Density = Mass / Volume

You might be thinking, so what. I would probably agree with you but have you seen the news recently about oil spills? How about the one that just happened in the Gulf of Mexico? Since oil is less dense than water it floats. Look out Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas!

Liquids have different densities and will not mix if the difference in densities is great enough. Temperature is an important factor that can affect a liquids density too. In general, as liquid temperature increases, density decreases.

As you might expect knowing the density of a liquid serves numerous purposes and can provide valuable information for making decisions. Density can tell you how much sugar is in a can of soda, or how much gasoline and kerosene is in a petroleum product, or even aid someone in predicting how two or more liquids will interact. Understanding what density is, what affects density, and how density affects other physical properties is also important in using and translating this information into an everyday useful tool.

We live in a physical world and so it would make sense that we would want to be able to define these physical properties around us. Having a way to define these physical properties is helpful to those who need to use the information.
• How much space does it take up?
• How heavy is it?
• How much of this can we put into that?
• What is it?
• Many everyday products are packaged by volume but sold by weight
• Fluid properties; predictive correlations can be made if you know the density
• If we change some of the ingredients that make up the fluid property will it change the weight?

The neat thing about understanding liquid density is that it can answer not only the three basic questions; What is the mass (weight) of the liquid?, what is the volume of the liquid? What is the density of the liquid? But also, what is the liquid? Yes, we can actually compare liquids to grade and categorize them using a term known as specific gravity.
If you found this interesting stop back again as we explore further…