Does gravity effect the density of water on an ocean planet?
I'm designing an ocean planet. I did a quick search with this question on the interwebs, but nothing that came up was helpful (I don't have any physics or scientific background). I was wondering whether on an ocean planet, with a gravity of about three-fourths that of earth, with a radius comparable to earth, if the water would be any different (less dense, etc)?
Thanks!
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1 answer
Water is, generally speaking, incompressible. It doesn't act like other liquids, at least not until you treat is as though it's already at absurd compression as it is. I highly doubt that water would be functionally different.
Additionally, a fun fact pertaining to water: If it floats, it will float regardless of gravity. Gravity is a significant part of the equation for flotation, so barring other issues, if something floats on Earth, it'll float on a world with half gravity, or even double gravity. Of course, that's not all there is too it - A ship that's structurally sound in half gravity may not be structurally sound in double gravity, etc
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