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Relative density (also known as specific gravity) is a measure of the density of a material. It is dimensionless, equal to the density of the material divided by the density of water.

Since water's density is 1.0 × 103 kg/ m3 in SI units, the relative density of a material is the density of the material measured in kg / m3 divided by 1000 (the density of water). There are no units of measurement.

Water's density can also be measured as one gram per cubic centimetre (under standard conditions) in cgs units. The relative density therefore has the same value as density of the material expressed in grams per cubic centimetre, but without any units of measurement.

Relative density is often used by geologists and mineralogists to help determine the mineral content of a rock or other sample. Gemologists use it as an aid in the identification of gemstoneA gemstone is a mineral, rock (as in lapis lazuli) or petrified material that when cut and polished is collectible or can be used in jewellery. Others are organic, such as amber (fossilised tree resin) and jet (a form of coal). Some beautiful gemstones ars. The reason that relative density is measured in terms of the density of water is because that that is the easiest way to measure it in the field. Basically, density is defined as the mass of a sample divided by its volume. With an irregularly shaped rock, the volume can be very difficult to accurately measure. The most accurate way is to put it in a water-filled graduated cylinderThe word cylinder has several meanings. For the geometric object, see Cylinder (geometry . For the engine component, see Cylinder (engine . In firearms the cylinder is the rotating device that contains the firing chambers of a revolver. The phonograph cyl and see how much water it displaces. Even this method can be rather inaccurate, though, since it is easy to accidentally spill some water. It is far easier to simply suspend the sample from a spring scale and weigh it under water. Solving Isaac NewtonKneller's portrait of 1689. Sir Isaac Newton ( December 25, 1642 March 20, 1727 by the Julian calendar then in use; or January 4, 1643 March 31, 1727 by the Gregorian calendar) was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and alchemis's equations yields the following formula for measuring specific gravity:

'

where G is the relative density, W is the weightFor the 1994 album by the group Rollins Band, see Weight (album). Weight is the force exerted upon an object by virtue of its position in a gravitational field. In a constant gravitational field, such as the Earth's, this force is proportional to the obje of the sample (measured in pounds, newtonThis article is about the SI unit of force. For other uses see Newton (disambiguation In physics, the newton (symbol: N) is the SI unit of force, named after Sir Isaac Newton in recognition of his work on classical mechanics. It was adopted by the Generals, or some other unit of force), and F is the forceIn physics, a net force acting on a body causes that body to accelerate; that is, to change its velocity. The concept appeared first in the second law of motion of classical mechanics. It is usually expressed by the equation F m · a where F is the force,, measured in the same units, while the sample was submerged. Note that it is rather difficult to measure relative densities less than one because in order to do so, the sign of F must change, meaning that you would have to supply a downward force to keep the sample underwater.

Physical quantityA physical quantity is the result of measurement and usually expressed as the product of a numerical value and a physical unit (whereby SI units are usually preferred). Example : P 42. 3 x 103 W 42. 3 kW where P represents the physical quantity for power


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