Learning to use the Ruler in Inches

  
An inch on a ruler can be enlarged to better see the spacing and the divisions that occur.

Start with a line and label it Zero at one end and One at the other end. I have included the
fractional equivalent for 1 as well, 1/1.		  
a  
If you find the middle between the Zero and the One, you have found the point considered the middle and is called one half. The line
on each side of the middle point is the same length, one half inch. The sum of the two halves make a whole inch.		  
b  
When you add the length of the first half and the length of the second half you have a whole inch or two halves.
See the label included with the 1 for halves, 2/2.		  
c  
If you divide the two halves into equal parts, you now have fourths. The first of the four parts is called one fourth.
Hint: Notice what happened to the denominator of the fraction when the distance is cut in half.
The denominator doubled. Use your mouse to highlight the words that follow . . .
When the one inch distance was cut in half the denominator went from a one to a two
1/1 to 1/2 and . .
the half inch cut in half went from a denominator of two to a four,
1/2 to 1/4  again doubled.
What will happen to the denominator when you divide the fourth in half again?		  
d  
One of the other two fourths is listed in the diagram below.
There is a missing label for one half. It is not listed because 2/4 is reduced tp proper terms is one half. 		 
e  
When you divide the space from zero to one fourth in half, the space is one eighth.
See the next graphic for the rest of the eighths.		  
f  
The rest of the eighths are shown in the diagram below. There are also missing labels because
fourths and halves can be reduced to lower terms. 		 
g  
By this time, I am hoping you are seeing a pattern with this lesson on reading a ruler. The
eighths divided into halves are equal to sixteenths. The first sixteenth is shown at the left of the diagram below.		  
h  
All of the sixteenths are labeled below except for those that can be reduced to lower terms.  
i  
We measure to the thirty-second of an inch in our class. That means that the sixteenths will have to be divided into halves again.  
   
If the thirty-seconds were divided into halves again, what would be the fraction for the first space?  
   
Is it possible to get to a shortest length? If you think it is, please let me know what that fraction is. Thanks.  
   

Hints for measuring and reading a ruler:

  1. Determine the number of spaces or segments in the ruler you are using. It is faster to find the half way point and count the spaces or maybe even the
    quarter point and count the spaces. If you know how many spaces are in the half inch, then just double it for the whole inch. If you know how many spaces are in the quarter inch, then multiply that many spaces by four.

  2. When a distance is longer than the half inch division point of the ruler, do not count the all of the spaces from the beginning to the point beyond the half inch, instead, count only the spaces beyond the half inch and then add the number of spaces for the first half. Let's say for this example that you are using a ruler with 8 spaces in the inch. That means that one half inch is four spaces. Instead of counting from the beginning of the inch, start at the half which is four and count the additional spaces after the half inch point.

  3. When the mark you are measuring is close to the end of the inch, only count the how many more spaces are left until you get to the next inch mark and subtract that from the number of spaces in the whole inch. (If you are one space from the end of the inch where there are 16 spaces, then that would be one less than 16 which is 15/16.