4.7 Densities of Solar System planets
The planets in the Solar System all have different compositions, and this affects their densities.
In general, terrestrial (rocky) planets are denser than the gas and ice giants. Earth has a density of around 5.5 g/cm3 compared with Jupiter’s density of 1.3 g/cm3.
Activity 4 Densities of Solar System planets
Allow about 5 minutes
You’ll be shown a density value and you need to decide which of two planets it belongs to, based on the information provided above.
Density: 1.6 g/cm3
Density: 0.69 g/cm3
Density: 5.2 g/cm3
Mercury and Earth are the densest planets in the Solar System (Figure 13) with densities similar to the iron-rich mineral haematite. Saturn, the least dense planet in the Solar System on the other hand, has a density lower than that of water. It may sound strange, but this means that Saturn would actually be able to float in a container of water if you could find one large enough.
OpenLearn - An introduction to exoplanets
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