What type of measurement does an outside micrometer provide?

An outside micrometer is a precision measuring instrument designed specifically to measure the external dimensions of an object. This tool is most commonly used in machinist applications to determine lengths, widths, or other linear dimensions with high accuracy. The measurement it provides is typically in millimeters or inches, clearly making it suitable for linear measurement tasks.

In contrast, angular measurement involves assessing the angle of an object, which is not something that an outside micrometer is designed to do. Thickness measurement can be a specific case of linear measurement, but outside micrometers specifically are recognized for their ability to measure the distance between two opposite sides of an object. Volume measurement is another distinct type of measurement that involves a calculation of three-dimensional space, which falls outside the capability of an outside micrometer. Thus, linear measurement is the correct classification for the type of measurement provided by an outside micrometer.