Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
The truth is that there are tons of moments in life when you’ll need to know how to read a ruler. And if you don’t know how to read a ruler, then you’ll likely suffer some consequences. 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? Or what if you mess up a science experiment because you didn’t accurately read the measurement of a piece of string you cut? 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).
The inch is the biggest unit on a ruler and is represented by the longest line. Each 1-inch line is labeled with a number indicating what inch it is on the ruler (as the image above shows). There have been huge advances in technology over the past decade, allowing for increasingly powerful assistive software to be created to help people overcome literacy difficulties. Sometimes however, the most effective tool that can be used is not complicated software, but instead something much simpler. These reading rulers are made of transparent plastic that both underlines the text by the use of an opaque line and highlights it in a coloured tint. One side of the ruler is gloss and the other matt. Example: Say you’re measuring a piece of cloth and the ruler ends at the fourth line after the 10-inch mark. This would mean that the cloth is 10 1/4 (10.25) inches long.
Meanwhile, centimeters are part of the metric system, which is used around the world in both everyday life and science. The 1/2-inch line is located midway between every inch on a ruler. The midpoint between 7 and 8 inches, for instance, would be 7 1/2 (or 7.5) inches.
Tinted strips on the edge of the ruler and not as a central “letterbox”, ensuring that context is not lost. The standard metric ruler is 30 cm long. Each centimeter is labeled with a number to show the measurement it's referring to. You might see inches on the other side of your metric ruler. In this case, refer to the instructions above to learn how to read a ruler in inches. Example: Say you're measuring the width of your smartphone, and it comes up to the fifth line after 4 cm on your ruler. This would mean that the phone is 4.5 cm (45 mm) wide. For example, if you wanted to make something out of construction paper, you'd likely need to use a ruler to measure out how much of the material you would need. Or what if you wanted to frame a photo you have? In this case, you might have to measure the picture to see what kind of frame it would fit in. 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).Inches correspond to the imperial system, which is the main measuring system used in the US and a smattering of other countries. If you want any extra assistance with learning how to read a ruler in cm or inches, videos and worksheets can be excellent resources.
Example: Say you decide to measure the length of a corn on the cob. You find that your ruler comes to the second line after the 6-inch mark. This would mean that the corn is 6 1/8 inches long. The third-biggest lines on a ruler are the 1/4 inch lines, which appear midway between the 1/2 inch and whole inch lines: Example: You take out a ruler to measure the width of your fingernail. The ruler stops at 1 cm, meaning that your nail is precisely 1 cm wide. The smallest unit a metric ruler can measure is 1 mm, or 0.1 cm. These are the smallest lines on the ruler, that is, the ones that come between the whole centimeter and 1/2 centimeters:Also, be aware that 30 cm does not directly equal 12 inches, even though they are often put on the same ruler! 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. There will always be 10 lines from one centimeter to the next centimeter. In total, there are three different lengths of lines on a metric ruler. The second-biggest unit on a ruler is the 1/2 inch, which is represented by the second-longest line. These typically aren't labeled but might be on some rulers (in which case you'd see numbers such as 1 1/2 in, 2 1/2 in, etc.).
Got questions about decimals and fractions?Our expert guides will teach you how to convert decimals to fractions and how to add and subtract fractions. Next is 1/8 inch, which is the second-smallest unit of a ruler. The 1/8 lines are found midway between each 1/4-inch line: The longest line represents the biggest unit on the ruler: 1 cm. Each centimeter is labeled on the ruler (1-30).
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.
Great Deal 
New Comment