# Specific Volume

Written by Jerry Ratzlaff on . Posted in Classical Mechanics

Specific volume, abbreviated as $$\upsilon$$ (Greek symbol upsilon), is the volume in a unit of mass.  Specific volume is a intensive variable whose physical quantity value does not depend on the amount of the substance for which it is measured.  Specific volume is the reciprocal of density, a substance with a higher density will have a lower specific volume.

## Specific volume formula

 $$\large{ \upsilon = \frac{V}{m} }$$ $$\large{ \upsilon = \frac{1}{\rho} }$$ $$\large{ \upsilon = 1 \;+\; e }$$ (soil)

### Where:

 Units English Metric $$\large{ \upsilon }$$  (Greek symbol upsilon) = specific volume $$\large{\frac{ft^3}{lbm}}$$ $$\large{\frac{m^3}{kg}}$$ $$\large{ \rho }$$  (Greek symbol rho) = density $$\large{\frac{lbm}{ft^3}}$$ $$\large{\frac{kg}{m^3}}$$ $$\large{ m }$$ = mass $$\large{lbm}$$ $$\large{kg}$$ $$\large{ e }$$ = void ratio $$\large{dimensionless}$$ $$\large{ V }$$ = volume $$\large{ft^3}$$ $$\large{m^3}$$