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Materials library

Silicon has a density of 2.33 g/cm³ and a radiation length of 21.82 g/cm², or 9.365 cm at that density. Search 17 detector and shielding materials, inspect their properties, or compare two or three side by side.

Materials library

Find a material and compare its properties at the listed density.

Enable JavaScript to search and compare. All 17 materials are in the table below.

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All 17 materials

Length entries give g/cm²; cm, using length in cm = mass thickness ÷ density. — means PDG does not list a value. Boiling points are at 1 atm; critical energies are for electrons. SiO₂ keeps the library density of 2.32 g/cm³; its PDG mass lengths and thermal points come from the fused-quartz entry (2.200 g/cm³).

Material	Density (g/cm³)	Z/A (mol/g)	Mean excitation I (eV)	Radiation length (g/cm²; cm)	Nuclear interaction length (g/cm²; cm)	Nuclear collision length (g/cm²; cm)	Electron critical energy (MeV)	Molière radius (g/cm²; cm)	Melting point (K)	Boiling point (K)
Silicon	2.33	0.498478	173	21.82; 9.36481	108.4; 46.5236	70.2; 30.1288	40.19	11.51; 4.93991	1687	3538
Germanium	5.323	0.440832	350	12.25; 2.30133	143; 26.8646	86.9; 16.3254	18.16	14.31; 2.68833	1211	3106
Carbon (amorphous)	2	0.499542	81	42.7; 21.35	85.8; 42.9	59.2; 29.6	82.08	11.03; 5.515	—	—
Aluminium	2.6989	0.481811	166	24.01; 8.89622	107.2; 39.7199	69.7; 25.8253	42.7	11.93; 4.42032	933.5	2792
Iron	7.874	0.465558	286	13.84; 1.75768	132.1; 16.7767	81.7; 10.3759	21.68	13.53; 1.71831	1811	3134
Copper	8.96	0.456362	322	12.86; 1.43527	137.3; 15.3237	84.2; 9.39732	19.42	14.05; 1.56808	1358	2835
Tungsten	19.3	0.402502	727	6.76; 0.350259	191.9; 9.94301	110.4; 5.72021	7.97	18; 0.932642	3695	5828
Lead	11.35	0.395753	823	6.37; 0.561233	199.6; 17.5859	114.1; 10.0529	7.43	18.18; 1.60176	600.6	2022
Argo (gas)	0.00166201	0.450586	188	19.55; 11762.9	119.7; 72021.2	75.7; 45547.3	38.03	10.9; 6558.32	83.85	87.26
Water	1	0.555087	75	36.08; 36.08	83.3; 83.3	58.5; 58.5	78.33	9.77; 9.77	273.1	373.1
Air (dry, sea level)	0.00120479	0.49919	85.7	36.62; 30395.3	90.1; 74784.8	61.3; 50880.2	87.92	8.83; 7329.08	—	78.8
Plastic scintillator	1.032	0.541415	64.7	43.9; 42.5388	81.3; 78.7791	57.3; 55.5233	94.11	9.89; 9.58333	—	—
Kapton	1.42	0.512644	79.6	40.58; 28.5775	85.5; 60.2113	59.2; 41.6901	81.01	10.62; 7.47887	—	—
Silicon dioxide (quartz, 2.32 g/cm3)	2.32	0.499298	139.2	27.05; 11.6595	97.8; 42.1552	65.2; 28.1034	50.58	11.34; 4.88793	1986	3223
Concrete (Portland)	2.3	0.502736	135.2	26.57; 11.5522	97.5; 42.3913	65.1; 28.3043	49.9	11.29; 4.9087	—	—
Bone (compact, ICRU)	1.85	0.530103	91.9	30.49; 16.4811	89.2; 48.2162	61.4; 33.1892	61.41	10.53; 5.69189	—	—
Soft tissue (ICRP)	1	0.55121	72.3	37.63; 37.63	83; 83	58.3; 58.3	81.68	9.77; 9.77	—	—

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ScienceShot. Materials library. https://scienceshot.com/materials-library.

Sources: PDG Atomic and Nuclear Properties (2024 edition); NIST ESTAR (ρ, Z/A, I).

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Cite this page

ScienceShot. (2026). Materials library [Online calculator]. https://scienceshot.com/materials-library

@misc{scienceshot-materials-library-2026,
  author = {{ScienceShot}},
  title  = {{Materials library}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {Online calculator},
  url    = {https://scienceshot.com/materials-library}
}