answersLogoWhite

0

No, not with any degree of precision, anyway. A ruler is a linear measuring device; that is, it's good for measuring distances that are in straight lines. Volume is the amount of space an item occupies. To measure volume requires making three linear measurements, one for length, one for width(or depth), and one for height. But if your object is irregularly shaped, as a rock surely is, well, a ruler isn't going to do the job. Not very well, at least. You could grossly approximate the volume of the rock by measuring its dimensions roughly. In other words, if the rock is "about" six inches long and about three inches wide and about four inches high, then its volume is about 6 x 3 x 4 = 72 cubic inches (or inches cubed). But that is a very inexact calculation, because the rock is not a perfect parallelepiped. (What the heck is THAT? Double click the word for a definition.) A set of calipers would be better than a ruler, but your approximation would be only a bit better. To really determine the volume of the rock, you could submerge it in water and measure the amount of water it displaces. It might be a cool experiment to take a rock and approximate its volume with a ruler, calipers, and a beaker of water, to see how accurate (or inaccurate) each method is.

User Avatar

Wiki User

17y ago

What else can I help you with?

Related Questions

What tool do you use to measure the volume of a rectangular solid?

A ruler or tape measure.


How do you find the volume of a rectanglular object with a ruler?

Measure the length, measure the width, measure the height, and multiply them all together. LxWxH = volume


What instrument measures the volume of a shoe box?

A ruler or tape measure would be the best tool. You cannot measure the volume directly. First, measure the length, width and height with the ruler and use the formula of volume of cubiod (L x W x H)


How are the volumes different when you use a graduated cylinder and a metric ruler?

A metric ruler measure a legth not a volume.


How will you measure volume of irregular solid?

use a ruler to measure the lenght of each side of the object


How do you measure volume of cement in cubic meter?

using a cubic ruler


What would you measure the volume of a cube with?

A ruler. Measure one of the sides, and take that measurement times itself three times, and you'll have the volume.


What is the formula for the ruler method of volume?

The formula for the ruler method of volume is volume = length x width x height, where you measure the dimensions of the object using a ruler and multiply the three measurements together to calculate the volume.


How can you measure the volume of an object if it is not shaped like a box.?

take a peice of string and see how long the amount is then measure the amount of string on to a ruler and that's your volume :)


Why cant you use a ruler to find the volume of a paperclip?

A ruler is used to measure length and does not account for the height or width of an object, which are necessary to calculate its volume. To find the volume of a paperclip, you need to measure its dimensions in three dimensions using a tool such as a caliper or by using a water displacement method.


What would you use to measure density?

The density of a substance is the ratio of its mass to its volume. So, I would measure the mass and volume of a substance to calculate density.


What instrument measures the volume of a rectangular box?

There is not an instrument designed to measure the volume of a rectangular box. You would use a ruler or tape measure or similar to measure its linear dimensions and a brain to multiply them together.