A method for noninvasive determination of the flow or the flow rate in an electrically conductive object, through which a gaseous medium flows, by an acoustic flow meter, wherein an emitting transducer is arranged on the object wall—and a receiving transducer is arranged spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the object on the object wall, an ultrasonic wave is generated in the object by the emitting transducer, which is partially coupled as a longitudinal wave into the medium, and a useful signal, which at least partially results due to the longitudinal wave, is detected by the receiving transducer, the flow rate is determined from the useful signal via an evaluation device, the emitting transducer is arranged in a first position in the circumferential direction around a longitudinal axis of the object and the receiving transducer is arranged in a second position, varied in relation to the first position around the longitudinal axis, outside the main beam of the ultrasonic wave, and the width of the main beam is restricted to a sector between two contact points of a sensor mechanism.