Compressibility

Compressibility is the measure of the change in volume a substance undergoes when a pressure is exerted on the substance. Liquids are generally considered to be incompressible. For instance, a pressure of 16,400 psig will cause a given volume of water to decrease by only 5% from its volume at atmospheric pressure. Gases on the other hand, are very compressible. The volume of a gas can be readily changed by exerting an external pressure on the gas.