Density Conversion Calculator

Calculator Use

Convert among mass density values along with mass concentration values (mass divided by volume).

Ounces and pounds are in the avoirdupois system, the standard everyday system in the United States where 1 ounce = 1/16 pound

How to Convert Units of Density

Conversions are performed by using a conversion factor. By knowing the conversion factor, converting between units can become a simple multiplication problem:

S * C = E

Where S is our starting value, C is our conversion factor, and E is our end converted result.

To simply convert from any unit into kg/m3, for example, from 50 lb/ft3, just multiply by the value in the right column in the table below.

50 lb/ft3 * 16.018463 [ (kg/m3) / (lb/ft3) ] = 800.92315 kg/m3

To convert from kg/m3 into units in the left column divide by the value in the right column or, multiply by the reciprocal, 1/x.

800.92315 kg/m3 / 16.018463 [ (kg/m3) / (lb/ft3) ] = 50 lb/ft3

To convert among any units in the left column, say from A to B, you can multiply by the factor for A to convert A into kg/m3 then divide by the factor for B to convert out of kg/m3. Or, you can find the single factor you need by dividing the A factor by the B factor.

For example, to convert from lb/ft3 to g/mL you would multiply by 16.018463 then divide by 1000. Or, multiply by 16.018463/1000 = 0.016018463. So, to convert directly from lb/ft3 to g/mL you multiply by 0.016018463.

To understand how to also convert the units follow this example. Say you want to convert from lb/ft3 to lb/in3. You want to convert the foot to inches. Since you can multiply anything by 1 and still retain the original value, but in different units, set it up so that ft3 will cancel out leaving you with in3.

Since: 1 ft = 12 in, 1 ft / 12 in = 1

We can write the conversion as: 1 lb/ft3 = 1 lb/ft3 * (1 ft / 12 in)3 = 1 lb/ft3 * (1 ft3 / 1728 in3) = 5.787037e-04 lb/in3

And we now have our factor for conversion from lb/ft3 to lb/in3 since 1 * 5.787037e-04 = 5.787037e-04.

Knowing that 1 lb/ft3 = 5.787037e-04 lb/in3 we can now find the conversion factor for converting back. Dividing both sides of the equation by 5.787037e-04 we get 1728 lb/ft3 = 1 lb/in3. So, the conversion factor to multiply by to convert from lb/in3 to lb/ft3 is 1728.

Units, symbols and conversion values used in this density calculator To Convert from Unit Unit Symbol and Convert to ( kg/m3 ) Multiply by ( kg/m3 / Unit ) gram per cubic centimeter g/cm3 kilogram per cubic meter 1000 kilogram per cubic centimeter kg/cm3 kilogram per cubic meter 1000000 gram per cubic meter g/m3 kilogram per cubic meter 0.001 kilogram per cubic meter kg/m3 kilogram per cubic meter 1 gram per milliliter g/mL kilogram per cubic meter 1000 gram per liter g/L kilogram per cubic meter 1 kilogram per liter kg/L kilogram per cubic meter 1000 ounce per cubic inch oz/in3 kilogram per cubic meter 1729.994 ounce per cubic foot oz/ft3 kilogram per cubic meter 1.001153 pound per cubic inch lb/in3 kilogram per cubic meter 27679.90471 pound per cubic foot lb/ft3 kilogram per cubic meter 16.018463 ounce per gallon (Imperial) oz/gal kilogram per cubic meter 6.236023 ounce per gallon (U.S. fluid) oz/gal kilogram per cubic meter 7.489151 pound per gallon (Imperial) lb/gal kilogram per cubic meter 99.776372 pound per gallon (U.S. fluid) lb/gal kilogram per cubic meter 119.826 slug per cubic foot slug/ft3 kilogram per cubic meter 515.3788184 ton per cubic yard (long) l ton/yd3 kilogram per cubic meter 1328.939 ton per cubic yard (short) sh ton/yd3 kilogram per cubic meter 1186.553

References

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The NIST Guide for the use of the International System of Units - Appendix B, subsections B.8 Factors for Units Listed Alphabetically and B.9 Factors for Units Listed by Kind of Quantity or Field of Science.

Lide, David R., Daniel (Editor-in-Chief). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 89th Edition New York, NY: CRC Press, p. 1-28, 2008.

Wikipedia contributors. "Conversion of units" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, last visited 26 Jun. 2011.