How To Read a Ruler

How To Read a Ruler

You would have no difficulty reading a ruler if it is one with half-inches and inches.

Materials You Would Need

A one foot ruler
A pencil
Some paper

Instructions

1. Users of a ruler will find that it has two sides, one of which helps to get metric measurements and the other, English measurements.
2. The unit of measurement on the metric area of the scale is centimeters. This metric side can easily be identified as it is the one with lines numbered from 1 to 30. 12 inches is one foot is 30 centimeters. This explains the numbering.
3. Observe that each centimeter is separated by 9 lines, each line indicating one millimeter (mm). One centimeter equals 10 mm.
4. Take the paper and mark two points on it using a pencil. It would be more convenient if the distance separating the marks was smaller than the height of the ruler.
5. Situate one side of the ruler at the first point. Keeping that end stable, shift the other end till it reaches the second point. Place your pencil or finger on that point of the ruler which cuts through the second mark.
6. The first number to identify is the one that comes before the point on the ruler determined in the previous step. Note down this number.
7. Determine how many little marks there are between the noted number and the determined position on the ruler. This is the number of millimeters between the two. Assuming that the point falls on the fourth mark, it means the difference between the noted number and your mark is 4 mm.
8. Combining the findings, the length of space between the marks measures 15 cm and 4 mm. This may be represented in decimal form as 15.4 cm.
9. The very same marks can be measured in inches as follows:

Take the side numbered up to 12 and align the end of it with the first mark. While ensuring that this end is steady, shift the rulers other end till it links to the second mark. Place your pencil or finger at this point.
Look at the number that is on the left side of the mark. This number is the number of inches between the two marks. You would also be able to observe that between any two numbers, there are seven smaller lines, each of which stands for one-eighth of an inch.

10. The first number is the length, in inches, between the two points. If for example, the number was 6, this means that the points are separated by a distance of 6 inches. Keeping in mind that the value of any slighter line is as mentioned earlier one eighth of an inch, count how many are there between your mark and the 6. Three marks would mean that the marks are separated by a distance of 6 and 3/8 inches.