How are the planets' classification as terrestrial planet or gas giant generally related to their densities?

1 Answer
Jul 15, 2016

There is some sort of relationship of density to this classification. Mean density for gas planets is far less than that for terrestrial planets. The ratio is nearly 1 : 5..

Explanation:

Density Table ( courtesy: NASA Planetary Table):

Density (g/cc)

Mercury-5.427 Venus 5.243 Earth-5514 Mars 3.933

Jupiter-1.326 Saturn 0.687 Uranus-0.271 Neptune 1.638

The mean density for the terrestrial planets Mercury, Venus, Earth

and Mars is 5.038 gm/cc

The mean density for the gas planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and

Neptune is 0.9805 gm/cc