Maximum density enhancement with respect to the RTV density, n _p / n _RTV as a function of the ratio of loop half-length to heating scale height, L/ s _H , for a set of eight hydrodynamic numerical simulations performed by Tsiklauri et al. (2004), for s _H = 8.75 Mm and loop half-lengths of L = 9, ..., 55 Mm (diamonds). The scaling law of Serio et al. (1981) yields consistent predictions for L/ s _H 3, but overpredicts the density enhancements for higher values of L/ s _H 3 where no stationary loop solutions exist due to the Rayleigh–Taylor instability. Numerical hydrodynamic simulations yield maximum density enhancements of n _p / n _RTV ≲ 2 for stationary solutions (Winebarger et al. 2003a, 2003b). For dynamic simulations of impulsive heating and subsequent cooling maximum (Tsiklauri et al. 2004), maximum density enhancements of n _max/ n _RTV ≈ 0.5(1 + L/ s _H ) are obtained.