FIELD: measuring. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to an apparatus and a method for determining the physical parameters of metal melts and can be used in metallurgy. The method for determining the physical parameters of a drop sample of a metal melt includes using an electro-optical system of a measurement photometric unit and the photometry of the contour of an image of a drop sample of a known mass, placed on a ceramic substrate fixed horizontally inside the heater of a horizontal furnace, the measurement unit is activated, evacuation is conducted, the electric furnace is heated, an experiment is conducted, wherein the contour of the image of the molten sample is observed on a display, used to determine the volume and density of the drop, wherein prior to loading the sample, before evacuation and activation of heating of the furnace, a symmetrical element is temporarily placed on said ceramic substrate, preliminarily imparted the property of equality of the value of the orthogonal coordinates xi and yi, the photometry of the contour of the image of the element is conducted, the orthogonal coordinates thereof xim and yim are measured and the ratio thereof is calculated as the corrective factor Kim = xim/yi m, the value whereof primarily differs from one, the coefficient Kim is then used as a multiplier in the formulas for determining the physical parameters, followed by removing the above element from the ceramic substrate, placing the studied sample thereon and continuing the subsequent operations of the method. EFFECT: reduction in the influence of the photometric distortions of the values of the orthogonal coordinates xi and yi of the contour of a drop sample of the metal melt when calculating the physical parameters thereof. 3 cl, 3 dwg.