Earth's Mass
Written by Fraser Cain
Blue Marble Earth
The Earth's mass is 5.9736 x 1024 kg. That's a big number, so let's write it out in full: 5,973,600,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg. You could also say the Earth's mass is 5.9 sextillion tonnes. Phew, that's a lot of mass.
That sounds like a lot, and it is, but the Earth has a fraction of the mass of some other objects in the Solar System. The Sun has 333,000 times more mass than the Earth. And Jupiter has 318 times more mass. But then there are some less massive objects too. Mars has only 11% the mass of the Earth.
Because of its high mass for its size, Earth actually has the highest density of all the planets in the Solar System. The density of Earth is 5.52 grams per cubic centimeter. The high density comes from the Earth's metallic core, which is surrounded by the rocky mantle. Less dense planets, like Jupiter, are just made up of gases like hydrogen.
We've written several articles about the mass of planets in the Solar System. Here's an article about the mass of Mercury, and here's an article about the mass of the Sun.
If you'd like more information on the Earth mass, check out NASA's World Book on the Earth.
We've also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about the Earth. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.
Filed under: Astronomy
Tags: Earth, mass, mass of the earth, planet earth
