There are two types of rulers: the inch ruler, which has 12 big numbers on it (1 for each inch), and the metric ruler, which has 30 big numbers on it (1 for each centimeter). These tiny lines that represent 1/16 inch come between all 1/8-inch lines: Example: You’re trying to measure the length of your pointer finger. You don't want to get the centimeters and the inches mixed up or your measurements won't be correct. Just remember to practice using your ruler and you'll get better at it. The vertical lines vary in length, depending on the interval. Reading a ruler worksheet with answers. Thank you! Look at the image above. Thanks. I didn't even know that metric means reading from left to right. Locate the corresponding scale on the architectural ruler, i.e. We’ll also provide you with some helpful resources you can use to keep honing your ruler-reading skills. Example: You count eight marks, equalling 8/16 of an inch or 1/2 inch. In the U.S., we use units of measure such as inches, feet, and yards. For example, 1 1/2, or 2 3/8. ", "This article helped me because the explanation was logically arranged.". I have learned more from this relative to what I was taught in class! 16ths Scale: Each inch is divided into 16 parts and the smallest division is 1/16 of an inch. For example, if you measure a carrot and the tip falls on the line halfway between the 6 1/2 and 7 inch lines, the carrot is 6 and 3/4 inches long. All this verticl lines called as fraction of inches or Graduation of inches. Some lower quality rulers have spaces at the beginning to make the rulers easier to use. 2. Scientists, engineers, and other professionals may use your data. This helps me out a great deal. You need: That's it! In the metric system, the meter is the the standard unit for measurement. Each inch is divided into 16 lines, meaning that the space between each line is 1/16 inch long—this is the smallest length you can measure with a ruler. If all the different lines on a ruler are leaving you perplexed, don't worry! For instance, the half inch mark is usually the longest, followed by the quarter and eighth inch. My granddaughter and, "I have always had trouble reading a ruler, but this article really broke it down for me in a way I understood and, "The pictures really helped because I'm a visual learner and I also have a photographic memory. In this article we will learn how to read an inch that has been divided into 16 parts. What is 55.5? Knowing how to read a ruler is important, not just for school but also for daily life. Also, be aware that 30 cm does not directly equal 12 inches, even though they are often put on the same ruler! Right away, you should be able to tell that this ruler uses inches, as it’s divided into 12 equally spaced areas (labeled 1-12), and we know there are 12 inches in a foot (ignore the cm below). For example, place the ruler against a pencil with the eraser at the far left of the ruler. All fractions must have a denominator of 16, 8, 4 or 2. A machinist ruler is an important piece of equipment for mechanics and others who need exacting measurements. Reading a ruler that measures in inches.Reading a ruler can be a little tricky. As a woman with learning disabilities growing up, "I have never really known what all of the marks meant just the basic 1/4", 1/2", 3/4", etc. Learning to read a ruler takes practice, especially converting the numbers in the measurements. Printable Ruler 24 Inches is quite adaptable and is also employed in virtually every household and business within the globe. Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com, allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. The flower stem is 5 and 11/16 inches long. % of people told us that this article helped them. Like 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, 7/8. You find that your ruler comes to the second line after the 6-inch mark. Each part consist of the 16 lines which are also parted equally. The College Entrance Examination BoardTM does not endorse, nor is it affiliated in any way with the owner or any content of this site. So you can put the ruler in a 3- or 5-ring binder to use in school or in an office environment. You'll know it's an inch ruler because it will have 12 lines that denote inches on the ruler. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. The 1/2-inch line is located midway between every inch on a ruler. Make sure you read the ruler from left to right. If you really can’t stand to see another ad again, then please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. This article has been viewed 2,215,882 times. And the last one 1/32 inches ruler divided by 32 verticle lines. The inch is the biggest unit on a ruler and is represented by the longest line. The upper right-hand corner displays either millimeters or inches, depending on which read mode is selected. Please help us continue to provide you with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker. If in inches mode, the far-left number before the decimal point is whole inches. ", want to ask my husband for help, I wanted to figure it out on my own. I know more now about a ruler or tape measure than I ever have before. Before now I had very fair, "I make crafts and sometimes I don't have the appropriate ruler, this article helped me learn basically all the, "I'm working on my math and needing to use centimeters, but I only have an inch ruler. While we will be providing pictures you can use to follow our instructions, we recommend getting out your own ruler or measuring tape so you can follow along in real time. When reading a ruler for the first time, it can be helpful to count each mark, typically measuring 1/16 of an inch. Is 5.5 mm closer to a half inch or a quarter inch? See Picture 1. Alternatively, to read an English ruler, start by looking for the inch lines, which are the longest lines on the ruler that are numbered 1-12. How to Read an Imperial Ruler. If you are measuring an object, align it with the left side of the zero mark on the ruler. Reading a ruler is really simple once you know what you're doing. The distance between them is equal to 1 centimeter. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. Step 4: Cut & Double- Eighths. ", centimeter to inch converter, it has really helped. Example: You take out a ruler to measure the width of your fingernail. inch marks are located, but we don't know what the marks between the 1 inch mark and the 2 inch mark mean or what they stand for. Seeing it helps me, "I am learning how to make a book for myself. A standard ruler is 12 inches or 1 foot long. The marks are even numbers. For example, you measure a piece of fabric and the edge falls on the 6th line after the 4 inch mark, which is directly in between the 1/4 of an inch mark and the 1/2 inch mark. Your button is 1.5cm long. 12 inches equals 1 foot (0.305 m). If you want any extra assistance with learning how to read a ruler in cm or inches, videos and worksheets can be excellent resources. No wonder I, "A magnified visual descriptions accompanied by easy-to-understand explanation of these images. By using our site, you agree to our. If it is in the metric system, use the centimeters side of the ruler; if it is in the English system, use the inches side of the ruler. Metric rulers usually have only centimeters and millimeters on them. You might see inches on the other side of your metric ruler. SAT® is a registered trademark of the College Entrance Examination BoardTM. ", "The illustrations with pictures to help understand the written details. The truth is that there are tons of moments in life when you’ll need to know how to read a ruler. Then, taking measurements will be a breeze. The ruler is read from left to right. Each foot is broken down into twelve inches and most regular rulers are about one foot or twelve inches long. Make sure you read the ruler from left to right. (Note that some rulers only go down to 1/8 inch lines, whereas others go down to 1/32 inch lines.). hbspt.cta.load(360031, '4efd5fbd-40d7-4b12-8674-6c4f312edd05', {}); Have any questions about this article or other topics? Mark where the tip of the pencil lead ends on the ruler. Example: Say you decide to measure the length of a corn on the cob. Ruler Measurement Worksheets in Inches. Needed a fast refresher class. It reads cm, and has more numbers. The rain gauge is composed of three parts: a funnel, a measuring tube, and a 4-inch diameter overflow tube, and a mounting bracket. A standard ruler is 30 cm/12 inches long. , from the end of one lens to the far end of the other lens. Example: If you were to measure the length of a sheet of computer paper, the piece of paper would come up to the 11-inch mark on your ruler, indicating that it's exactly 11 inches long. Each line represents 1 millimeter, which is equal to 1/10 or 0.1 cm (so 10 mm make up 1 cm). Now then, here's what a typical metric ruler looks like: You can tell that this is a metric ruler because it’s divided into 30 equally spaced sections and has "cm" written on it (ignore the inches below). Ten lines or millimeters make up a centimeter. It's in the middle between the 7th and 8th millimeter lines in a centimeter. This is especially important to know if you’re studying science (recall that science generally uses the metric system—not the imperial system). ", "Very clear and precise article to learn to understand both inch and metric rulers. It almost always has the second-longest marking (after the one-inch marks). 12 inches equals 1 foot (0.305 m). In 1/8 inches ruler one inches divided by 8 verticl lines In 1/16 inches ruler one inches divided by 16 verticle lines. This means that your fabric is 4 and 3/8 inches long. This would mean that the corn is 6 1/8 inches long. What ACT target score should you be aiming for? 3 standard rulers measure 1 yard or 36 inches. A measurement to select will appear above the ruler image. * When reading a ruler, the first thing to consider is in what measurement system you would like it to be. Inches correspond to the imperial system, which is the main measuring system used in the US and a smattering of other countries. 6 mm is almost a quarter inch, whereas half an inch looks closer to 12-13 mm, so 5.5 would be close to a quarter of an inch. Without measuring devices like rulers (and people who can read them) we would still be living in caves. The standard English ruler, or Imperial ruler, is divided into inches. Thank you, I will keep studying. Printable Ruler 24 Inches is actually a portable device… Sometimes I'm confused. A quarter inch. If you plan on measuring things that are small or you need to be extremely accurate, make sure the ruler you use has these marks. Between the numbers are several vertical lines marking fractions of each inch. Or what if you mess up a science experiment because you didn’t accurately read the measurement of a piece of string you cut? ", find this article helpful, I had to save it so I can return to it, as I will be studying it each day. Each inch is broken down into 15 smaller marks, equaling 16 marks in total for each inch on the ruler. Make sure you always use the correct side of the ruler for the task at hand. You'll know it's an inch ruler because it will have 12 lines that denote inches on the ruler. Step 1: Start Your Inches! ", "For years, I couldn't quite get measurements on the ruler. Got questions about decimals and fractions? This will also help with understanding fractions as well. So many measurements, yikes! This would mean that the phone is 4.5 cm (45 mm) wide. A half-inch mark is always centered between any two one-inch marks. The left side of the line where the object ends will be its measurement in inches. All fractions must have a denominator of 8, 4 or 2. Ever seen Roman numerals but didn't know how to read them? The longest line represents the biggest unit on the ruler: 1 cm. The above ruler to scale is effectively a life size ruler and can both be used as an online 12 inch ruler (online ruler inches: shows how to read a ruler in inches) or when printed as a printable centimetre ruler. Thank you! We all know where the 1, 2, 3 etc. I'm very happy to have learned so much, especially, "This has helped me a lot. Thanks a bunch! Each inch is broken down into 15 further divisions which equals 16 divisions in every inch. And if you don’t know how to read a ruler, then you’ll likely suffer some consequences. The bigger lines with the numbers make up the centimeters. Each centimeter is labeled with a number to show the measurement it's referring to. References Or what if you wanted to frame a photo you have? ", http://www.craft-a-project.com/Ruler-Measurements.html, http://www.askmrcscience.net/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/readingametricruler.pdf, consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. Though the machinist ruler may appear to be very much like other rulers, the number of increments between inches or centimeters allow it to be read with a much higher degree of accuracy than standard rulers which don't feature as many increments. Get an inch ruler. These tools will check your knowledge of measuring an object in inches using a ruler. Check out our detailed guide and you'll be on your way to understanding this ancient numerical system! Each line (1 mm) on a metric ruler represents .10 … About This Quiz & Worksheet. Example: If you were to measure the width (instead of length) of a piece of computer paper, the piece should come up exactly to the 1/2 inch line between 8 and 9 inches, indicating that the width is 8 1/2 (8.5) inches. ", "I have had to see this a couple times to really get it, but now it's stuck! In the following lesson, you will learn how to read both an imperial and metric ruler. I didn't, "How it was explained, the article mentioned it step by step, and explained everything from mm, cm, in. So I got online and asked Cortana for her help, and she lead me to your site. For instance, what if you make two pieces of something that don’t fit together because one is shorter or longer than it was supposed to be? If you are trying to teach your child how to read and to measure with a ruler, you might find it difficult to measure to the tenths of an inch. Learn how to convert nanometers to meters and other measurements with our in-depth guide. The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points, How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer. Each of these tiny lines represents a fraction of an inch. ", where all the centimeters and millimeters on the ruler are located. Rulers are an essential tool to have, but if you’re struggling with how to read a ruler, you're not alone. Example of a standard ruler Step 3: Cut & Double- Quarters. ", "This helped me because we are doing a lot with rulers in my robotics class. Measurement Worksheets Reading a Ruler Marked in Inches The measuring worksheets on this page require grade school students to look at a ruler and identify the value being shown in inches. Every mark is 1/8th of an inch. Therefore, 55.5 is equal to 55 1/2 which is 1/4" larger than 55 1/4. Some rulers will also denote 1/2 inches with numbers, so make sure you are using the largest numbers with the longest lines as your inch markers. So now there's no holding back! We know ads can be annoying, but they’re what allow us to make all of wikiHow available for free. Approved. It is important to be as accurate as possible when reading your gauge. Blu’s Bird Toys www.bluesbirdtoys.com . Look at the image above. The numbers to the right of the decimal represent tenths, hundredths and thousandths, respectively. The space between the lines is 1/16 inch which is smallest measurable part. ", "Looking for 3 1/5, but it isn't there, so it must be 3 1/4. No one ever broke it down and worked backwards to explain it - that's why I couldn't get it. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/3\/3b\/Read-a-Ruler-Step-1-Version-5.jpg\/v4-460px-Read-a-Ruler-Step-1-Version-5.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/3\/3b\/Read-a-Ruler-Step-1-Version-5.jpg\/aid2762382-v4-728px-Read-a-Ruler-Step-1-Version-5.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":259,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"410","licensing":"