A spherical ball made of steel when dropped in mercury container

The density of steel usually ranges between 7.75 and 8.05 g/cm3 and the density of mercury is 13.534 g/cm3. Mercury is denser than steel this will mean that the buoyant force is large enough to float the steel ball. Different materials usually have different densities, so density is an important concept regarding buoyancy, purity and packaging. Osmium and iridium are the densest known elements at standard conditions for temperature and pressure but not the densest materials. Less dense fluids float on more dense fluids if they do not mix.