Question

The density of matter in a neutron star is:

Options

• Of the same order as nuclear matter

• Exactly equal to the density of ordinary matter

• Much smaller than the density of nuclear matter

• Zero, because collapsed stars contain no matter

Answer 1

Neutron star matter has a density of the same order as nuclear matter (about \[2.3 \times 10^{17}\,\text{kg m}^{-3}\]). This comparison shows the extreme compactness of collapsed stellar matter.