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how do you get the thickness of a material from its area density?

I'm designing a wall for a hypothetical spacecraft and I need to know the thickness of the materials. From area density, it's easy to get the weight of the material b/c you just multiply it by the area. However, I am not sure how to get the thickness and I'm at a loss.

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    The thickness of the material is 'built in' to the value for area density [a.k.a. superficial density.]

    The thicker the sheet, the bigger the value for superficial density will be.

    If you need to do the full calculation, you need to know the density of the material in kg/m^3 or equivalent and use

    [density] = [mass] / [volume]

    where volume = area * thickness

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Area density is two dimensional whereas the thickness is in the third dimension. So I am not sure how area density could possibly give you thickness. Thicker material doesn't lead to higher area density. The density is only being measured in 2-D.

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