Density of Milk
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| Bibliographic Entry | Result (w/surrounding text) |
Standardized Result |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight Density and Specific Gravity of Various Liquids. 1998 Pump.Net. May 29, 2002. | "Milk has a weight density of 64.2 to 64.6. [Lbs. per Cu. Ft.]" | 1028–1035 kg/m3 | ||||||
| Specific Gravity of Various Materials Compiled By the Engineering Group. Delta Controls Corporation Engineered Sensors for Difficult Services. May 29, 2002. |
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1035 kg/m3 | ||||||
| Dairy Chemistry and Physics. Douglas Goff. University of Guelph. | "With all of this in mind, the density of milk varies within the range of 1027 to 1033 kg m(-3) at 20° C. [see table below]" | 1027–1033 kg/m3 | ||||||
| I also determined the density of milk myself. | [see calculation at bottom of page] | 1037 kg/m3 |
| Composition | Density (kg/L) at: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Product | Fat (%) | SNF (%) | 4.4 °C | 10.0 °C | 20.0 °C | 38.9 °C |
| Producer milk | 04.00 | 08.95 | 1.035 | 1.033 | 1.030 | 1.023 |
| Homogenized milk | 03.60 | 08.60 | 1.033 | 1.032 | 1.029 | 1.022 |
| Skim milk, pkg | 00.02 | 08.90 | 1.036 | 1.035 | 1.033 | 1.026 |
| Fortified skim | 00.02 | 10.15 | 1.041 | 1.040 | 1.038 | 1.031 |
| Half and half | 12.25 | 07.75 | 1.027 | 1.025 | 1.020 | 1,010 |
| Half and half, fort. | 11.30 | 08.90 | 1.031 | 1.030 | 1.024 | 1.014 |
| Light cream | 20.00 | 07.20 | 1.021 | 1.018 | 1.012 | 1.000 |
| Heavy cream | 36.60 | 05.55 | 1.008 | 1.005 | 0.994 | 0.978 |
Milk is a very nutritious and versatile food. People enjoy drinking milk in its natural form and also use it to make a wide range of food products, including cream, butter, yogurt, cheese, and ice cream. We drink the milk produced from a variety of domesticated mammals, including cows, goats, sheep, camels, reindeer, buffaloes, and llama. The major source for commercial production and consumption is from cows.
Most milk is composed of 80 to 90 percent water. The remaining 10 percent consists of the major nutrients needed by the body for good health, including fats, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, and vitamins. Cow milk contains approximately 87% of water, 3 to 4% protein, 4 to 4.5% fat, and approximately 4.5% milk sugar (lactose). It typically contains about 3.5 to 5 percent fat, which is dispersed throughout the milk in globules. Fat supplies taste and texture, and vitamins A, D, E, and K, as well as certain fatty acids that the body is unable to produce. Lactose is a kind of sugar found only in milk and gives milk its sweet taste. It makes up about 5 percent of milk's content.
If the fat content is lowered to 3.25 percent, the milk is sold as whole milk. Low-fat milk typically has 1 percent or 2 percent fat. Since fat has a lower specific gravity and therefore is "lighter" than the milk serum, fat globules rise to the milk surface. Then, fat can be collected or skimmed from the milk. The fat thus collected is called "cream" and the milk deprived of fat is called "skimmed milk"or "skim milk". As the lighter milk fat rises to the surface, the density changes. As you go towards the surface it creates layers of decreasing density. When milk is left to stand long enough, some separation will occur because of density differences.
Cream or milk fat is lighter in density than water and floats on the surface of un-homogenized milk. When you skim off the surface, some of the fat, the denser portions remains and the milk is denser. This explains why skim milk is denser.
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- 256.6 g (the mass of milk with carton) − 11.9 g (the mass of the carton) = 244.7 g (mass of milk). This is equal to 0.2447 kg.
- The volume of milk is ½ pint equal to 236 ml or 0.000236 m3.
- Density = Mass/Volume. Therefore density = 0.2447 kg/ 0.000236 m3 = 1036.86 kg/m3.
Alicia Noelle Jones -- 2002