MicroFactzzz#0019 · 🌌 Cosmic Oddities
Saturn Is So Light It Would Float on Water
If a big enough tub existed, Saturn's density is low enough that the planet would actually float.
Saturn's density is about 0.69 grams per cubic centimeter — less than the density of plain water, which is roughly 1 gram per cubic centimeter.
That's a consequence of the planet's makeup: Saturn is a gas giant made mostly of hydrogen and helium, with no solid surface, so despite its enormous size its total mass is spread very "thin."
If a bathtub big enough to hold it existed, Saturn would genuinely float, though a good chunk of the planet would sit submerged below the surface — like a floating ice floe.
No other planet in the Solar System has such low density — Saturn holds that record outright.
Sources
- General knowledge / encyclopedic sources
This fact is based on generally available knowledge, not a single, citable source. See how we approach verification.
Krulicza Nora
Want to go deeper?
- Cosmic Oddities
A Single Day on Venus Lasts Longer Than Its Entire Year
Venus spins on its axis so slowly that one day there is longer than one full trip around the Sun.
Learn more → - Cosmic Oddities
It Probably Rains Diamonds on Jupiter and Saturn
The crushing pressure inside these gas giants' atmospheres may turn carbon into crystalline diamonds that sink toward the core.
Learn more → - Cosmic Oddities
The Biggest Canyon in the Solar System Isn't on Earth
Valles Marineris on Mars is so long that, stretched across the US, it would span an entire continent.
Learn more → - Cosmic Oddities
The Sun Basically IS the Solar System — Everything Else Is a Rounding Error
The Sun holds over 99.8% of all the mass in the Solar System — every planet combined barely registers.
Learn more →