How big is a ton? That is, what is the volume of something that weighs a ton? To be specific, estimate the diameter of a 1-ton rock, but first make a wild guess: will it be 1 ft across, 3 feet, or the size of a car? (Hint: Rock has mass er volume about three times that of water, which is 1 kg per liter(10^3cm^3) or 62lb per cubic foot)

Question

How big is a ton? That is, what is the volume of something that weighs a ton? To be specific, estimate the diameter of a 1-ton rock, but first make a wild guess>: will it be 1 ft across, 3 feet, or the size of a car? (Hint: Rock has mass er volume about three times that of water, which is 1 kg per liter(10^3cm^3) or 62lb per cubic foot)

anonymous · Answer

This is a terrible question. A ton is a measure of mass, not volume or density. 

A short ton is 2000 lb. A metric tonne is 1000 kilograms. 

Taking the rock to be spherical, the volume is expressed as $${4 \over 3} \pi r^3$$With the given density value, we can say that$$m = \rho \cdot {4 \over 3} \pi \cdot r^3$$where $\rho$ is the density.

unklerhaukus · Answer

one cubic meter of water equals 1 tonne
$$1m^3 \times H_2O$$|dw:1327711997113:dw|
1 ton is about 1.1tonne