Density of Jupiter
We have
- Mass is 320 times the mass of the earth.
- Radius is 11 times the radius of the earth.
or approximately
- Mass is 300 times the mass of the earth.
- Radius is 10 times the radius of the earth.
The density is then 300/(103) = 300/1000 = 0.3 times the density of the earth. More exactly, we get 0.24 times the density of the earth (5500 kg/m3) or 1300 kg/m3.
That's really light. Jupiter is certainly not made of rock. It can't even
be made of water, even though 1000 kg/m3 is the density of water.
That's because Jupiter is so big that whatever it is made from would be
much compressed compared to its density in a laboratory on Earth.
ASTR 121 Home
Davison E. Soper, Institute of Theoretical Science,
University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403 USA
soper@bovine.uoregon.edu