Question

You are given a block of iron and wood each, both having the same volume. How can you verify which has more density, iron or wood?

Answer 1

Density is defined as mass per unit volume. It actually means how much mass 1 cm³ of the substance holds.

The following example will make things more clear:

1. Take blocks of wood and iron, both of the same volumes, i.e.,$1cm³.$
2. Weigh both blocks in a physical balance.
3. We can observe The block of iron has more weight.
4. If we drop both the blocks in water. The iron-block sinks in the water while the wooden block floats.
5. This proves very clearly that iron has more density than water while the density of wood is less than that of water. So, density can be defined as mass per unit volume. The SI unit of density is$kg/m³$while the CGS unit is$kg/m³$.
6. Thus, by knowing the mass and volume, the density of different objects can be calculated.

Hence, iron has more density than wood.