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"more massive"?

English Language & Usage Asked by dat_nguyen on June 9, 2021

I stumbled upon this sentence in Wikipedia:

Titan is 50% larger than Earth’s moon and 80% more massive.

I struggle with the “more massive” part. I find some books do use that phrase. Is it correct, pedantically? Do you recommend using it? Do you use it oftentimes, especially if you are an astronomer?

Which one do you prefer: “more massive” or “more in mass” or just “heavier”? Any other alternative is welcome.

One Answer

Massive is pedantically correct, and probably the standard in scientific circumstances. Especially when you are specifically talking about mass and not weight, which is usually an important distinction.

Another way of phrasing it could be “Titan is 50% larger than Earth's moon and has 80% more mass.”

Mass - More massive Weight - Heavier Volume - Larger

Answered by William with a J on June 9, 2021

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