# What's the densest liquid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 13, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120 "2003-11-13T22:29:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/1 "2003-11-13T22:29:39Z")
What liquid has the highest density at room teperature and pressure? I’m thinking mercury, but I’d like to know if anyone knws of any heavier. What about under higher pressures, or higher or lower temperatures? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/2 "2003-11-13T22:47:34Z")
Mercury is about the densest liquid (13.59 g/cm[sup]3[/sup]) under normal T and P. Put things under pressure, and you’ll end up with [neutronium](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutronium) at 10[sup]14[/sup] to 10[sup]15[/sup] g/cm[sup]3[/sup]. Still more pressure, and you might get a quark soup that’s 3 to 10 times denser yet. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/3 "2003-11-13T22:48:26Z")
I think Mercury is about as dense as you’d get as far as elements. From the discussion about Mercury on the Dope some time ago, apparently a Gallon of Mercury weighs in the ballpark of 80-100 pounds! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/4 "2003-11-13T23:01:42Z")
Mercury is cool stuff… One of my favorite mercury facts is that the ancients used to ingest it as a laxative! ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/5 "2003-11-13T23:05:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AndrewL \* > What about under higher pressures, or higher or lower temperatures? Raise the temperature and you’ll have: at 328 degrees C - molten lead (11.3 g/cc) at 1064 degrees C - molten gold (19.3 g/cc) at 3045 degrees C - molten osmium (22.4 g/cc) ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/6 "2003-11-14T00:27:51Z")
**Incubus** Actually a gallon of Mercury weighs about 163 pounds !!! ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/7 "2003-11-14T00:49:30Z")
I was going to ask this same question the other day. I was wondering, what’s the densest liquid on the planet earth? Then I modified that idea a bit. It seems to me that water is more dense in some areas of the world than in others. For example, I would think the water in the Great Salt Lake is more dense than the water of Lake Michigan. Is that true? [/slight hijack] ---
**Author:** ![ski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@ski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ski)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/8 "2003-11-14T01:07:02Z")
The water isn’t more dense in itself, the combination of the water and salt is more dense. ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/9 "2003-11-14T01:08:44Z")
That’s true, but the water in the Great Salt Lake isn’t just water. It’s water with a lot of solutes. Not that Lake michigan water is exactly pure. ---
**Author:** ![Extraneous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/0ea827/32.png) [@Extraneous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Extraneous)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/10 "2003-11-14T01:23:26Z")
Isn’t glass (good old silicon dioxide) a liquid at standard pressure/temp? (yes, this is going to devolve into “what is the difference between a liquid and a solid”) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/11 "2003-11-14T01:35:42Z")
Mercury is denser than glass anyway, so let’s not go there… ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/12 "2003-11-14T02:55:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Extraneous \* > **Isn’t glass (good old silicon dioxide) a liquid at standard pressure/temp?** Nooooooooooooooooooooooo! Not a gl_ss fl_w thread, please! In any case it is far less dense than mercury. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/13 "2003-11-14T02:56:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wolf\_meister \* > \*\ ***Incubus** > Actually a gallon of Mercury weighs about 163 pounds !!! \*\* Imperial or US? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/14 "2003-11-14T03:16:25Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by AndrewT \* > \*\*Nooooooooooooooooooooooo! Not a gl_ss fl\*w thread, please!\*\* Horror strikes in the chem lab. \ Threads like this are what I like the most about the SDMB. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/15 "2003-11-14T03:48:46Z")
[Ah-nuld]It’s liquid me-tuhl[Ah-nuld] ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/16 "2003-11-14T04:04:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Mercury is cool stuff… > > One of my favorite mercury facts is that the ancients used to ingest it as a laxative! Not just the ancients – “Blue Mass”, dispensed as a laxative during the American Civil War, contained an wful lot of metallic mercury. If you’re looking for other dense liquids, look in a mineralogy text on liquids for determining densities of minerals. There are some surprisingly dense solutions out there. (although nowhere near mercury’s, of course) ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/17 "2003-11-14T04:14:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AndrewT \* > \*\*Imperial or US? 😃 \*\* Depends; is it a European or African swallow carrying the bucket of mercury? ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/18 "2003-11-14T04:22:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DreadCthulhu \* > \*\*Depends; is it a European or African swallow carrying the bucket of mercury? \*\* How would a one-ounce swallow carry a 100-pound bucket of mercury? ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/19 "2003-11-14T04:45:26Z")
It is a US Gallon. An African swallow could do it. And please folks, it weighs 163 pounds. ---
**Author:** ![Ryle\_Dup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Ryle\_Dup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryle_Dup)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120/20 "2003-11-14T04:49:29Z")
Alternate question, what is the densest _safe_ liquid to handle. As in, not mercury. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-densest-liquid/213120.md?page=2)