The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
When a variety of different materials are compared for their relative weights, some will be "heavier" than others. To make a fair comparison one should take samples that are identical in volume. Physicists compare by using standard volumes of substances such as one cubic centimeter or one cubic meter of the substance.
Physicists know that one cubic centimeter of a pure substance always has the same mass. The value of that mass is called its density. The density of any substance is the mass of one unit volume of that substance. For example, the density of gold measures is 19.3 grams per cubic centimeter, or 19.3 g/cm3 . In the case of pure gold, the density will always be 19.3 g/cm3 . If it is not 19.3 g/cm3 , then we know that either the gold is impure or the substance is not gold at all.
It is useful to compare the densities of all substances to that of water. Lead has a density 11.3 times greater than water. The ratio of the density of lead to the density of water is 11.3. This ratio is called the specific gravity (or more commonly, relative density) of lead.