Word
density
Meanings
the amount of mass per unit of volume; how compact or heavy a material is for its size
the degree to which people, buildings, or objects are crowded into a particular area
the quality of being thick, complex, or full of information or detail
Definition
Density is the amount of mass in a given volume of a substance or material.
Density describes how tightly packed matter is in a substance. It is usually explained as mass divided by volume, so the same volume can be heavier or lighter depending on the material. In everyday contexts, it can also refer to how crowded an area is, such as the number of people or buildings in a space.
Examples
- I measured the density of the alloy to check whether the sample matched the specification.
- You can often infer density by comparing two objects of equal size in your hands.
- He was surprised by the population density in the city center after living in rural areas for years.
- She found the density of the report exhausting, so she reread the key sections more slowly.
- They adjusted the mixture’s density until it floated at the desired level in the tank.
Common mistake
Learners sometimes confuse density with weight and say something is “more dense” just because it is larger, rather than because it has more mass per unit volume.
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