How can you measure the volume a solid objects in irregular shapes example sand stacked in irregular shapes?

Answer 1

The easiest way to measure the volume of any object is to dunk it in a measuring cup (or other easy to calculate volume of water), and pull it out. The water level in the measuring cup BEFORE you pulled it out minus the water level in the measuring cup AFTER you pulled it out is the volume of the object. If the object floats, be sure to push it down under the surface completely with a thin stick or you won't get the correct answer. The few drops of water clinging to the object are almost always irrelevant, unless you have a porous object such as a sand bag. Shake any water drops off back into the measuring container, if it matters. The water trapped within the spaces between the grains of sand will throw your calculations off, IF you want to know the volume of the sand AND the air in the sand bag, (the outside dimensions of any porous object, in other words). In this case, put the sand bag in a big enough plastic bag to seal it from the water and perform your dunk test. If you want to measure the volume of the SAND particles ONLY, then let the water in, and carefully drain the sand bag for an hour or two, (until it stops dripping), and heat the resulting wet sand mass (catching the vapor and recondensing it, and putting it back in the original vessel) until dry. If you need to do something as complicated as all this, then you will surely have an apparatus for heating the sand and collecting water vapor, so don't ask me how to do this as well.