How do you calculate density?

• A. Density equals volume divided by mass.
• B. Density equals mass divided by volume.
• C. Density equals mass plus volume.
• D. Density equals mass times volume.

Answer: (B)

Density is a measure of how much matter fits into a given space, so you find it by comparing mass to the space it occupies. The formula is density equals mass divided by volume. In everyday problems you’ll often see grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm^3) for solids or kilograms per cubic meter (kg/m^3) in SI units. For example, if a object has a mass of 200 grams and a volume of 50 cubic centimeters, its density is 200 ÷ 50 = 4 g/cm^3. The other ways of combining mass and volume don’t give density: volume divided by mass would yield a reciprocal of density (specific volume), while adding or multiplying mass and volume produces different quantities altogether.