Measuring Volume Through Displacement

Volume of cylinders (year 9 mathematics)

Volume formulas

Volume of prism = LxWxD

Volume of cylinder = Area of face x D (πxr^2xD)

Task

Your task is to make a volume measuring device using the rectangular prism blocks (provided) and the beaker/glass (provided).

Step 1: Measure the volume of the rectangular prisms

Step 2: Fill beaker/glass half full of water and mark a line using marker at this point.

Step 3: place one rectangular prism in the beaker/glass and mark where the water has moved to (this is called displacement).

Step 4: repeat step 3 until you have used all of the rectangular prisms provided.

Step 5: you have now made a displacement calculator

Step 6: calculate the volume of all the cylinders provided by measuring the radius, length, width etc with a ruler.

Step 7: Use your displacement calculators to investigate if your calculations in step 6 were correct.

See pictures on next slides for further clarification

Equipment required

Starting water level

1 rectangular prism in water

3 rectangular prisms in water

5 rectangular prisms in water

Cylinder in water (notice displacement)

Large Cylinder in water (notice displacement)