Stage CraftMeasuring basics

Swartz Creek High School 2014

The first thing we need to clarify is the symbols used in measuring. The symbol

' (apostrophe) represents feet.

The

“” (quote) symbol represents inches.

Now back to understanding all those little marks on the ruler.

1

The longest line in the inch is in the middle. This is the half-inch mark (1/2).

½ + ½ = 1

½

A standard tape measure (or ruler) is divided up into feet and inches.

Each foot is divided into 12 inches.

The problem starts with the subdivision of the inches.

In each inch there are a number of lines of different lengths

The next shortest line is the 1/4" (one quarter of an inch) inch mark and there are only two of these

¼ + ¼ + ¼ + ¼ = 1

1/4 3/4

1

The third shortest line is the 1/8” (one eighth of an inch) and there are four of those.

1/8+1/8+1/8 +1/8+1/8 +1/8+1/8+1/8= 1

Some rulers and tape measures only show measurement to the 1/8 scale. If you need accuracy you will need a ruler or tape measure that can measure 1/16”.

1/8 3/8 5/8 7/8

The shortest line is the 1/16” (one sixteenth of an inch) and there are eight of those.

1

1/16+1/16+1/16+1/16+1/16+1/16+1/16+1/16+1/16+1/16+1/16+1/16+1/16+1/16+1/16+1/16= 1

1/16 3/16 5/16 7/16 9/16 11/16 13/16 15/16

If you count the distance between the inch marks (one inch) you will find sixteen lines. This is because an inch is 16/16th of an inch long. Because we like to express fractional numbers in the largest unit possible we call it one inch. So it follows that if you have 8 lines, or 8/16" you have a half-inch or ½". And likewise, if you have 4 little lines, or 4/16" you have a quarter inch and so on.

8/16

1/2

4/16

¼

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

22 443311

1

1/16

2/16

3/16

4/16

5/16

6/16

7/16

8/16

9/16

10/16

11/16

12/16

13/16

14/16

15/16

16/16

sixteenths

or 1/8

or 2/8or 1/4

or 3/8

or 4/8 or

2/4 or 1/2

or 5/8

or 6/8 or 3/4

or 7/8

eighths

8/8

fourths

4/4

half

REVIEW

1

1/16

1/8

3/16

1/4

5/16

3/8

7/16

1/2

9/16

5/8

11/16

3/4

13/16

7/8

15/16

2

When measuring, you would not say the red line is 4/16 of an inch long or 2/8 of an inch long,

but ¼ of an inch long.

Measurement of fractions are always said in their lowest common denominator

1

1/16

1/8

1/4

5/16

3/8

1/2

9/16

5/8

3/4

7/8

Find ¼Find 5/8Find 5/16

Find 1/2

Find 3/4Find 1/8Find 9/16Find 7/8

Find 1/16

Find 3/8

REVIEW

1 2

REVIEW

a) 5/8 b) 9/16

c) 3/4 d) 11/16

What is the length of the red line?

1 2

REVIEW

What is the length of the red line?a) 1 1/4 b) 1 1/16c) 1 1/8 d) 1 3/16

1 2

REVIEW

What is the length of the red line?a) 7/8 b) 3/4

c) 1 1/8 d) 1 7/16

1 2

REVIEW

What is the length of the red line?

a) 1 1/4 b) 1 3/8

c) 1 1/2 d) 1 7/16

1 2

REVIEW

What is the length of the red line?a) 1/4 b) 3/8

c) 1/2 d) 7/16

1 2

REVIEW

What is the length of the red line?

a) 1 3/4 b) 1 3/8

c) 1 5/16 d) 1 13/16

1

1/16

1/8

3/16

1/4

5/16

3/8

7/16

1/2

9/16

5/8

11/16

3/4

13/16

7/8

15/16

1/2

2

1/16

1/8

3/165/16

1/4

3/8

7/16 9/16

5/8

11/16

3/4

13/16

7/8

To get your stack of 100 dollar bills, click on the 1 3/8” mark on the ruler

THAT’S RIGHT!

15/16

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THE RULER GAME

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