Sulfur Hexafluoride Density Demonstration

Sulfur hexafluoride is transparent, so if you fill a fish tank with it you can’t really see that that tank’s filled with anything other than air. However, since sulfur hexafluoride is denser than air, you can float a light boat on the invisible gas for a cool demonstration of density.

Note: Air is about 80% nitrogen gas, which has the formula N2, and a molecular mass of 28 atomic mass units: the molecular mass is the sum of the atomic masses of all the atoms in a molecule. Sulfur hexaflouride has the formula SF6 and a molecular mass of 146 amu, making it about 5 times denser than air.

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