Density - Other Common Units

Other Common Units

The SI unit for density is:

  • kilograms per cubic metre (kg/m3)

Litres and metric tons are not part of the SI, but are acceptable for use with it, leading to the following units:

  • kilograms per litre (kg/L)
  • grams per millilitre (g/mL)
  • metric tons per cubic metre (t/m3)

Densities using the following metric units all have exactly the same numerical value, one thousandth of the value in (kg/m3). Liquid water has a density of about 1 kg/dm3, making any of these SI units numerically convenient to use as most solids and liquids have densities between 0.1 and 20 kg/dm3.

  • kilograms per cubic decimetre (kg/dm3)
  • grams per cubic centimetre (g/cc, gm/cc or g/cm3)
    • 1 gram/cm3 = 1000 kg/m3
  • megagrams (metric tons) per cubic metre (Mg/m3)

In US customary units density can be stated in:

  • Avoirdupois ounces per cubic inch (oz/cu in)
  • Avoirdupois pounds per cubic inch (lb/cu in)
  • pounds per cubic foot (lb/cu ft)
  • pounds per cubic yard (lb/cu yd)
  • pounds per US liquid gallon (lb/gal)
  • pounds per US bushel (lb/bu)
  • slugs per cubic foot

Imperial units differing from the above (as the Imperial gallon and bushel differ from the US units) in practice are rarely used, though found in older documents. The density of precious metals could conceivably be based on Troy ounces and pounds, a possible cause of confusion.

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