How to Read a Measuring Tape

Knowing how to read a measuring tape is quite simple! But it has so many applications in our daily lives like for measuring fabrics, area, etc. that it is important that one knows how to read a measuring tape. Moreover, you may need to use a measuring tape at one point of time or another if not on a daily basis. So read this article that teaches you how to read a tape measure.

How to Read Tape Measure - The Basics

The measuring tape has got a number of lines indicating specific measurements.
The top portion of a standard tape measure is feet, inches and fractions of inches.
The bottom portion of the measuring tape device stands for centimeters and millimeters.
Remember - 12 inches is equivalent to one (1) foot.
10 millimeters is equal to one (1) centimeter.
On the foot measurement part of the tape, the red numbers or ft numbers are the feet measurements. This will actually depend on the kind of tape measure you are using.
The inches will be marked on the measuring tape in large numbers.
The middle line between inches symbolizes half (1/2). The second largest lines on the measuring tape will be the one-fourth (1/4^th), whereas the third largest lines will be the one-eighth (1/8^th). The smallest lines on the tape measure are one-sixth (1/16^th).

Now Learn How to Read Tape Measure

Keep the object you want to take measurement of on a flat surface. It is pertinent that the object to be measured is kept flat otherwise the measurements will be come faulty.
Bigger objects (to be measured) need be read in inches and feet. There will be times when you will have to use centimeters or millimeters also for accurately measuring the object. English instructions get completed in inches and feet measurements.
When taking measurements, you need to line up the tape measure completely from the start of the item.

Example - Measuring the Remote Control

First of all, the tape measure needs to be placed length wise along with the remote control to register its length.
The end of this object you are measuring may fall inside the fraction portion of the inches. There will be 16 lines between the first inch and the second inch.
Incase the measurement of the object falls in the center of an inch, then the measurement should be read as the inch number and / plus half (1/2). Example – Seven and a half inches.
On the other hand if the measurement of this object falls on one of the smaller lines, this could be read as one-fourth (1/4) or three-fourth (3/4). This is because 2/4th is 1/2 and 4/4th is the next inch. The same rule will work with 1/8th as well as with 1/16th. Try recording the smallest number possible while taking down the measurements.
So if the remote was 8 inches and 10/16th, the accurate measurement would be 8 5/8 inches. This same idea will work with centimeters and millimeters as well.
The remote control that is 8 5/8 inches would translate to 21.7 centimeters or 217 millimeters.
When measuring in centimeters and millimeters with a measuring tape, just keep in mind that you cannot combine the two. In this particular case, the measurement will be either in centimeters or millimeters. It cannot be both together at the same time.

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