• Question: how dense is mercury?

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      Asked by TheToppler 283 to Angus, Catherine, Jenni, Melissa, Waqar on 16 Jun 2016.
      • Photo: Angus Cook

        Angus Cook answered on 16 Jun 2016:

        ~13.5 g/cm^3 (grams per centimeter cubed)

        For reference water has a density of 1 g/cm^3, and steel has a density of about 8 g/cm^3.

        So that means that, if you had 1 litre of each, the mercury would weigh 13.5 times more than the water, and just under twice as much as the steel.

        This also means that you can get steels (and lots of other metals) to float on mercury.

      • Photo: Melissa Ladyman

        Melissa Ladyman answered on 21 Jun 2016:

        Can’t beat a video! Great answer!

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