Monday, December 11, 2006

Would Saturn float in a body of water?

Archimedes' principle tells us that a body will float in a fluid if its average density is less than the fluid's average density. Since water's density is 1 gm/cm3, and Saturn's average density is 0.7 gm/cm3, a sphere of the same size and mass would float on water. But the fact of the matter is Saturn is a gaseous planet. There is no solid surface defining its outer diameter, so trying to float Saturn would not be possible even if a large enough ocean could be found. Picked from Physlink.