Measuring Volume

The use of a graduated cylinder to measure the volume of liquids was covered with a link to a tutorial page in the laboratory techniques section, but it is also important to know how to measure the volume of a solid object. Since volume is a measure of the space an object takes up in three dimensions and only one object can occupy a given space at a time, a solid’s volume can be measured indirectly by finding the volume of liquid it displaces. If the object is a regular geometric solid, its volume can be determined using a geometric formula.