what is the volume of a ton of feathers?

[sarwal]

Yeeeah

[SteveD]

It depends (a) on the type (size) of the feathers and (b) how much they are compressed..

 

[montyy]

you cant have a volume of something that isnt a liquid.

proper question would be: what is the mass of a ton of feathers?

[Hyaku]

You certainly can have a volume of a solid as well as a liquid. Liquids have different units; using the metric system, 1ml of a liquid is 1 cubic cm (the size of a cube 1cm x 1cm x 1cm).

It's also a bit pedantic to answer, "It depends on the type and size of feather and how much they are compressed." We know it's going to be a much greater volume, so let's try to find the relative densities and go from there, just for fun.

Lead - density 11342kg/m3; so the volume of 1000kg of lead is
1000 / 11342 = 0.088m³ (0.88 cubic metres = 88l)

The average density of a feather sample (that I found in an online article) is 4kg/m³; the volume of 1000kg of feathers is
1000 / 4 = 250m³ (250 000l).

So a feather is around 1/2841 the density of lead. Or lead is 2841 times the density of a feather sample.

Other feather samples are available.

[Hyaku]

Ooops!

1. I was answering the classic "Which is heavier question" and not just the volume of a ton(ne) of feathers.

2. Volume of lead density typo (before someone calls me out on this) - 0.088m³ is 0.088 cubic metres, not 0.88 - but it is 88l!