Q&A for How to Read a Ruler

The 55.5 is larger than 55 1/4. the .5 on the 55.5 would equal 1/2. Therefore, 55.5 is equal to 55 1/2 which is 1/4" larger than 55 1/4.

Yes, but it really depends on what type of ruler you want to learn as well as how fast you pick up new material

Each small line represents 1mm. Therefore, the first line past the big number (for instance 25) will represent 25.1cm or 251mm.

The centimeters side is usually the part of the ruler where the markers are shorter and closer together. It reads cm, and has more numbers.

It's in the middle between the 7th and 8th millimeter lines in a centimeter. In other words, it ends in the middle of the second half of a centimeter.

7/8 is smaller than 1 inch. 1 inch represents a whole, while 7/8 represents 7 parts of a whole (8 parts).

They're the same 12in = 1ft.

Some lower quality rulers have spaces at the beginning to make the rulers easier to use. Higher quality rulers are often made of non-elastic materials like steel or aluminum, and their markings start without any space.

A quarter inch. 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.

So you can put the ruler in a 3- or 5-ring binder to use in school or in an office environment.

1 centimeter is equivalent to .39 inches. Many rulers come with centimeters marked on them, but a little math is required if that is not the case.

This measurement would be the same as 4 1/2 mm. In other words, this measurement would be halfway in between 4 and 5 mm on a ruler.

.5 is larger because .4 is equal to 4/10, which reduces down to 2/5 and .5 is equal to 5/10. This reduces to 1/2, and 1/2 is larger than 2/5.

You aren't really counting the lines -- you are counting the spaces. The "first" line and the "second" line are the start and end of the first millimeter. The "second" line and the "third" line are the start and end of the second millimeter. If you insist on "counting lines," then start with 0 for the first line. Every line after that will give you the total number of "spaces" or millimeters that you are looking for.

The 1/8 marks are the smaller marks found directly between the 1/4 marks. There are 96 1/8 marks on a 1-inch ruler.

The measurement marks on a ruler go up to 30. The ruler itself (including the plastic) is 31 inches long.

The 16th is the second small mark on a ruler, because it takes 2 mm to make a 16th.

Since one inch is defined as 25.4 mm, you would need to divide 9.906 by 25.4, which would give you 0.39 inches.

You should see the word "inch" printed near a particular type of mark, which would tell you which lines indicate inches. Normally, the inch lines will be the longest lines on the ruler if the measurements are on one side.

Twelve inches are in a foot.

It would be between 1/2" and 3/4" (between-inch subdivisions on a ruler are in halves, quarters, eighths, etc., not thirds).

It is half of the half inch. For example, if you were looking for the 4 1/4, then you would look at the mark between the 4 in and the 4 1/2 (4.5) and that would be a quarter inch.

No, 1/4" is only 6.35 mm.

1/2". Mark 1.3 cm on paper then place ruler inch side up and you will see it is 1/2". On metric ruler, (mm or cm) the smaller lines are mm and the larger lines are cm. A foot is 30.48 cm. There are 10mm in each cm.

We can only count the odd numbers since even numbers have fractions with a small denominator.

Check the height of the binder; if it is smaller than 12 inches (30cm), then the rule it won't fit, since all rulers are 12 inches (30cm) long.

Half an inch is a about a centimeter, so measure an inch and you should be fine (it is a fraction more but an inch will be fine).

The answer will be centimeters because on a ruler the centimeter units are 1 lower than the inch units.

The first documented (1851) inventor of the folding ruler is Anton Ullrich. A flexible ruler was later invented by Frank Hunt (1902). However, people would likely have made measuring rules, sticks, etc. from the dawn of civilization.

It is the 3/8 notch. The .6 notch is two notches before the half inch mark on the ruler.