What is the calculated uncompressed density for Earth's constituent materials?
Answer
closer to $4.4 ext{ g/cm}^3$
To truly gauge the intrinsic metal richness of a planet's materials, researchers compare 'uncompressed densities,' which model what the planets would be like without the gravitational squeezing effect of their own mass. For Earth, this calculated uncompressed density settles around $4.4 ext{ g/cm}^3$. This value is significantly lower than Mercury's uncompressed density, which is calculated near $5.3 ext{ g/cm}^3$. The large difference in these uncompressed values proves that the raw material making up Mercury is inherently richer in heavy elements, predominantly iron, than the raw material that formed Earth.
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