Density Converter
Type a density in grams per cubic centimetre to read it in kilograms per cubic metre, or the reverse. The factor is exactly one thousand, and the result offers an enquiry with the converted figure already in it.
Density
What this calculates
Density is the constant that turns a volume of metal into a weight, and datasheets print it in two units. European and Asian mill datasheets usually give grams per cubic centimetre: 7.9 for an austenitic stainless steel, 7.85 for carbon steel, 2.7 for aluminium. Engineering calculations, and every weight calculator on this site, run in kilograms per cubic metre: 7,900, 7,850 and 2,700 for the same three. The conversion is a factor of exactly one thousand, so this page is less about arithmetic than about not slipping a digit.
The reason the site holds density in kg/m³ is that the weight formulas take dimensions in millimetres and return kilograms; the density in kg/m³ with a division by a billion makes the units come out cleanly. If a datasheet gives you g/cm³ and you want to check a calculator result by hand, convert here first. If a specification quotes kg/dm³ or kg/L, that is the same number as g/cm³.
The converter is exact. One cubic metre is a million cubic centimetres and one kilogram is a thousand grams, so a gram per cubic centimetre is a thousand kilograms per cubic metre by definition, with nothing rounded. The result beneath says so.
Show the formula and a worked example
The formula
- g/cm³ → kg/m³: × 1000 (exact)
Dimensions in millimetres, density ρ in kg/m³ — as the engine runs them.
kg/m³ = g/cm³ × 1000, exactly. The reverse, g/cm³ = kg/m³ ÷ 1000, is the same row run backwards and the converter marks it that way. No other constant is involved.
The weight calculators on this site take their density from the grade table, not from this page: the grade you pick brings its own ρ, or its family's value when the grade has none, and the calculator says which. Use this converter to read a datasheet against that table, not to feed a calculator.
Worked example
| Quantity | Density |
|---|---|
| Value | 7.9 g/cm³ |
| To | kg/m³ |
| Theoretical result | 7,900 kg/m³ |
Computed by the calculation engine from these inputs at render time, rounded only for display.
Frequently asked
- 01Which density do the weight calculators use?
- The value in the site's grade table, in kg/m³, and the calculator names it beside the result — the grade's own density or the family fallback. This page does not change it; it lets you compare a datasheet figure with it.
- 02Is kg/dm³ the same as g/cm³?
- Yes, numerically. A cubic decimetre is a litre and holds a thousand cubic centimetres, and a kilogram is a thousand grams, so the two cancel: 7.9 kg/dm³ is 7.9 g/cm³ is 7,900 kg/m³.
- 03Why does the same grade show slightly different densities on different datasheets?
- Because density varies a little with composition within the grade's allowed range, and mills round differently. 7.9 and 8.0 g/cm³ are both quoted for 304. The difference is about one percent of the weight, which is within the tolerance on the thickness anyway.