Read a METRIC tape measure

The great thing about METRIC is that the measurements are all in whole numbers. There are no fractions. See how easy it is and find out why blueprints show everything in mm.

[@NoirHammer]

A very good presentation. You use repetition to emphasize your points, provide clear examples, and warn about pitfalls that may occur when reading a metric ruler. I give you a gold star.

[@AndresRivera-bj1hk]

Dude simplified my life. I'm a mechanic in California, most newer cars have everything measure in MM. This video made it that much fucking easier, thank you!

[@apprenticemath]

Thanks for watching!

[@PzzaDaHut66]

I never learned measurements. I am a slow learner....and really wished teachers were more specific when teaching especially when it comes to the metric system. I can now know the right way of measuring using the metric system. All thanks to you brilliant sir!.

[@apprenticemath]

Glad it was helpful!

[@klauskruger6187]

Metric is much more. 10 cm in a cube is 1 liter volume. Filled with water is 1 kilogramm weight.

[@yogibear6084]

Thank you for your video. It helped me learn a few things I had never paid attention to until I need to know a size from mm to inches.

[@MrDarkboy23]

When you can explain something very clearly it makes that person understand so well that they asked themselves how the hell you were so dum, thanks a lot

[@MrKennysplace]

wish we had you tube back years ago,its much easier learning on here than ever in school .......i was the class clown so i really didnt care to listen to my teachers lol ......looking back now MAYBE i should have ,but you made it sound and look so easy ........thank you

[@apprenticemath]

Thanks for watching. I used to be a clown in class too, until I figured skills pay, clowning doesn`t. By that time I was 22.

[@parallelfirefly4062]

Agree

[@bencrawford8219]

Thank you for making this video and getting me straighten out! I am 71 and I wish we would have changed it years ago when they tired ! To many old farms wouldn't go for it! Now when we go out to buy tools we have to buy two sets! I wish they would go ahead and change it now!

[@apprenticemath]

Well, at least money is Metric (1, 10, 100, ...)

[@wfla2285]

Brilliant approach! I retired from engineering and am teaching now and had no idea that I needed to begin here. But, clearly I do! This is great!

[@faroukkhan476]

Thank you Sir, the BEST explanation I have ever seen , plain and simple

[@suidafrikaanseboer3320]

I am from South Africa and here we only use the metric system. I lived and worked in the USA for 6 years. I always told the American people how easy the metric system is. Also told them if they can imagine how difficult it would be if 12 cents makes a dime like 12 inches makes 1 foot and 3 dimes makes $1 like 3 feet makes 1 yard and then 1 760 cents makes a $100 bill like 1760 yards makes a mile. Metric works like the money system just in 1000's. You get: Distance: 100 cent in $1 but 1000 mm in 1 meter 100 x $1 bills in a $100 bill but 1000 meter in 1 kilometre Weight: 100 cent in $1 but 1000 grams in 1 Kilogram 100 x $1 bills in a $100 bill but 1000 kilograms in 1 Metric Tonne. Liquids: 100 cent in $1 but 1000 Millie Litres in 1 Litre. 100, x $1 bills in a $100 bill but 1000 litres in 1 Kilo Litre. 1 Litre of water weigh exactly a 1000 grams or 1 Kilogram 1 cubic meter water is exactly 1000 litres and weigh exactly 1000 Kilograms or 1 Metric Tonne.

[@apprenticemath]

+Suid Afrikaanse Boer You`ve got talent. Start making videos, grab a paper, go.

[@mike4ty4]

And the secret... it keeps going beyond kilometers, on to the scale of the universe... 1 000 kilometers = 1 megameter (Mm) 1 000 megameters = 1 gigameter (Gm) 1 000 gigameters = 1 terameter (Tm) 1 000 terameters = 1 petameter (Pm) ... So each step (k, M, G, T, P, ...) goes up by another 1 000. Mm is fit to measure the distance between planets and moons (e.g. Earth's Moon is 384 Mm away), Gm to measure the distances between planets and stars (e.g. 149 Gm between the Sun and Earth.). Tm doesn't really fit well, but the next one after that, Pm, can measure the distances between stars in a galaxy (Alpha Centauri is around 46 Pm away.). And what's 46 Pm, the distance to Alpha Centauri, in km? It's 4 steps (M, G, T, P) above km so it must be 1 000 000 000 000 x 46 = 46 000 000 000 000 km (46 trillion km, note 4 groups of zeroes) distant. That's a long ways off isn't it?

[@bblowers5105]

you just confused the shit out of me

[@thundercloud47]

It's been years since I was in school. I too wish I had you as an instructor. Every teacher or instructor I ever had taught metrics in a confusing way. It was not until after I got out of school that I learned. Actually I taught myself. It's nice to have videos like yours for reference.

[@bencrawford8219]

I had those same teachers that sometime I think they taught that way to try to impress everyone how smart they were!

[@iendoftime8781]

You are a great teacher, thank GOD, for teachers like you !!!

[@sylvialarson1506]

Dear Sir...thank you! I liked the way you verbally and visually explained how to read a metric tape measure! Thank you again!!

[@indy3749]

I wish we had the metric system here in the U.S. All the math that we do just to make a framing layout is ridiculous.

[@mikloscsuvar6097]

As a native S.I. user I see your case as you wrote.

[@brooklynjade]

This is the best explanation I’ve ever seen. As I was able to understand and pick it up very quickly. Thank you!

[@apprenticemath]

You're very welcome!

[@apprenticemath]

Thanks for the feedback and the idea!

[@anitafernandez922]

Awesome presentation! I was just browsing through because I seen a job search position and it had said that Metric knowledge was required, I kinda had forgot in high school and plus I had taken Math in college but I still forgotten so thanks for this, this was clearly understood and now I feel refreshed in Metrics. 🙏😁

[@apprenticemath]

Hope you got that new job!

[@TheSometimesBuilds]

This was great, thank you! You are a great teacher and the examples helped me solidly learn it.

[@williamdeleon1973]

I only use metric system for measuring because its a lot easier to read.

[@jennyflorence6482]

A great help thank you, you made it very easy to understand.

[@apprenticemath]

Glad it helped!

[@Drewseph-qc4gv]

They didn't teach this when I was a kid. Thanks for the help!

[@33333duffy]

Thank you so much so simple to learn and remember if you where my teacher in school life would have been so much easier Thank you once again fantastic

[@apprenticemath]

Excellent! Happy to hear you can do this. Now, can you read a micrometer? A torque wrench? Whats your next trades math challenge?

[@MikeDMays]

I need to learn standard Micrometer and Metric Micrometer

[@jimmie200]

This is a very good tutorial. Thank you.

[@HWolfe]

Thank you for posting this!

[@FrodoOne1]

Note at 3:20 "To read a metric tape measure you only REALLY need to count the Millimetres." However at 6:50 the presenter said "12 Millimetres is exactly the same thing to say as 1 Centimetre and 2 Milimetres." But, DON'T SAY IT. Don't even think of or "SEE" Centimetres. If possible, get yourself a tape or rule with ONLY Millimetre markings. They DO exist but may be hard to find in North America. As the presenter said (9:15) "On your blueprint you will NEVER see Centimetres." and, at 9:35, "Don't give (measurements) in Centimetres. I want just one number and it's in Milimetres" This MAY seem a trivial point BUT it is VITAL to the SUCCESSFUL use of the Metric System (SI). For further information see two essays at themetricmaven.com/?m=201207 and a very full study of this matter at themetricmaven.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/centimetresORmillimetres.pdf - which is referred to in the above essays.

[@apprenticemath]

FrodoOne1 Wow. Good stuff, very true, thanks for sharing! (Clear plastic office rulers tend to be marked with cm. Metal rulers are mm, but was the glare not working well for the video) In measurement, one number seems easier than 2, or more, but often we use 2 or more. Examples include: took 4 hour 8 min (not 248min), isle 8 shelf 14, on Dec 4 (not on day 338), 2 and 3/4 pizzas left, 685 Main street (not Lot number 15,632), Longitude N15 degrees latitude E28 degrees, etc.

[@davidjames4915]

What's quite sad is that in the last two decades measuring tapes in the US and Canada have gone from being mm-based to cm-based. I've got an old Sears Craftsman with everything marked off in mm, and my father has old Canadian Tire (Mastercraft) tapes in mm as well, but they're all showing their age with most of the etchings in the two feet or so (both imperial and metric) near illegible. My Craftsman tape counts off in 10s, with the '1' (or 2,3,etc) on the left and the '0' on the right of the etching, as in '1|0' (so you can read it as cm as well by just ignoring the '0'). At 1 dm, it reads as '10|0' (in red lettering, not black as at the 1 cm marks) and the count restarts, so the marking at 120 mm is simply '2|0'. At 1 m, it reads in red lettering as '10|00'. It's almost as if the people designing it put some thought into it. It's not the best metric measuring tape I've seen, but it's the best I've used. I can't find that tape measure or anything like it anymore. Since I can't even find mm-based tapes in France, I'm now convinced that the cm-based tapes are a byproduct of metric conceit: "we're base-ten and since base-ten is inherently better than anything else we don't have to think about how to make it usable". The best metric tape I've ever seen is the one in this image: www.esdc.gc.ca/assets/portfolio/docs/en/essential_skills/tools/fig18_eng.jpg from this page: www.esdc.gc.ca/en/essential_skills/tools/construction_electrician_story.page Note that the 2,3 and 7,8 mm marks are longer than the 1,4,6&9 mm marks. This makes it a lot easier to read in poor light. Whoever designed this took the principles behind imperial tapes and applied them in a modified form to metric tapes (it also makes marking off quarter centimetres quite easy). About the only problem with it is a slightly poor choice of font/typeface. If you're going to take the dubious decision to use an inherently flawed base-ten measuring system, this is as good as you can get. But, as I wrote above, sadly the 'metric conceit' of metric's supposed inherent betterness has taken over and we now get the bleary eye-inducing all-equal length (but for 0.5 cm) marks and cm-gradated tapes now. Hopeless, really. I've built houses in both imperial-measuring Canada and metric-measuring UK. The use of cm-gradated tapes in the UK while most things you're working with are spec'd in mm made things annoying, along with the usual problem of bleary eye-inducing metric tapes. A mm-based tape would have made the problems of working in metric tolerable, but cm-based was just too much. I took to using the far more functional imperial measures whenever I could.

[@rogerpenna]

I saw one of MetricMaven's video, and I really don´t understand this logic against centimeters. Gee, it's all a factor of 10 anyway. conversion from cm to mm is automatic on our brain. I am talking as someone from a metric country. ps: no country is fully metric. TVs and wheels are measured in inches in most metric countries, although most people can´t point out how big 42 inches is if you ask them.

[@Mr_Secrate__]

Thank you for video i think i know everything about METRIC tape measure but after watched this video i learned basic thing about METRIC measurement.

[@bohohumanbeing2623]

Thanks for passing this knowledge along

[@apprenticemath]

My pleasure!

[@tsojeasonam7541]

Your a teacher!I learn this stuff already!

[@thiscouldbefunsportsandoth7483]

Hey brother thanks for making the video. It's great.

[@fairyfreak63]

Amazing job on your teaching. I understand the darn ruler; now. He he.

[@summergreenable]

Great info, thanks

[@j23royal]

thank you for your wonderful teaching

[@apprenticemath]

Yes, good note, works that way too. Mathematically, this way is a rule plus one exception, a total of two things to keep in mind. Counting the jumps is just one thing to remember. Now math with probability and chance: two things are easier to forget than one, that`s why counting jumps got filmed.

[@jsdevelopmentteam2985]

Great video

[@Elementalfigures]

Amazing teaching ⭐👍

[@apprenticemath]

I sure can. All metric blueprints, materials, tools and tech specs are in mm, I tend not to use cm and decimal digits. Just the whole number mm.

[@MistaE]

Wow that was easier than I thought, I'd say its more easier than the imperial tape measure 😂

[@7202de]

Great video!

[@85crazytechlaz]

Ha! Thank you very much for this video boss 👍👍

[@thomaskofi3458]

A very good teacher,stay bless

[@apprenticemath]

Thank you! 😃

[@iTzVoiD26]

Thank you for explaining mm.

[@b.bkuthe6667]

Thank you! The ruler is very intimidating to me but after learning the metric side I feel a bit more confident!

[@carlosblanco249]

yes I am from south America.. and this is child's play in comparison to inches and fractions.. but I am getting in there with that one..

[@apprenticemath]

Interestingly, when you add or subtract, "gaps" are counted. What is 8 - 5? If you count the lines or numbers in between, the answer is incorrectly 2, counting 6 and 7, as 6 and 7 are between 5 and 8, a total of 2 items. The correct answer is 3, as there are 3 jumps needed to get from 5 to 8. So, that`s the MAIN reason why counting jumps got filmed.

[@rogerpenna]

you can also count the number of lines, but starting from zero.

[@apprenticemath]

Thank you, NoirHammer

[@Boopybeep]

Thank you thank you now I will feel a little less stupid at work

[@Heather22056]

Good job 👍

[@phogsrams3311]

Great i was understanding carefully

[@kimberleygamble8630]

+apprentice math; Hi thanks for sharing this video on how to read a ruler or a tape measure. Caused I've found it very difficult to read them both though I've made cloth bags different styles & sell to clients or customers. I always get confused as to where I should start measuring from cause my tape measure have a taped end. Anyways My Question to You; Can I Count in Tens Rather Than Counting In between the Lines Just Asking; Not That It's a Problem for me; Just Taught That might be easier for some person's like myself. So Is It Ok If I Count the Lines on a Sewing Tape Measure or I Should Count In between the lines as well; also asking. I look forward to your reply as soon as possible (A.S.A.P).Tafs.

[@apprenticemath]

Thanks for watching. All tape measures and rulers in any unit or system: count the gaps Of course counting by 10s or 5s makes reading faster, such as groups of 10 - 10 - 5 - 3 (dashes, not subtraction) is faster to come up with a total of 28 than counting by 1s.

[@aidennsl]

This was really helpful

[@mikemagat1986]

it so clear...... i wish that your'e my instructor when i was in my school time... upload more sir.. how about the scale reading!!!! thank you!!

[@ajaykumar-xr1dw]

Sir how to write in inches ,like 3.4" what does it mean. Sir is it right to write 4' 1/2" = 4.25".

[@venustenshii]

the best explanation ever thankyou!!!

[@apprenticemath]

Glad it was helpful!

[@CooCuMbEr]

I live in the U.K we use metric We used to use imperialI can read both :)

[@tmanlandon]

Thank you now I understand

[@jchrg2336]

Metric is up until now most used and fornow known accurate work production mm and smaller delivers the quality, but soon you are going to be able to measure over the layers y x and z in even smaller and more precise units! Haha light speed, I 'm a show you how to track the map from earth milky way galaxy to outer further galaxies Calculus start your engine! I'm getting old to use my brains alone on stand alone on this with all these new modern gadgets now a days... But I'm still keeping a close eye on calculus because it just might be a slight bit incomplete... It needs to be calibrated for the future set that calculus

[@akaredcrossbow]

One more question if I could please? How would you tell someone to go measure a 12 foot section for me in millimeters? Would you say go measure 3,657.6 mm or 3.66 meters. Wouldn’t it be harder to learn that than 12feet 11feet 10feet etc. Just wondering Thank You

[@apprenticemath]

Metric blueprints are always in [mm], including size of whole buildings, which is written as 48,350 mm for example. So 12 feet is written as 3658, building are designed to whole number [mm], without decimal digits. Shop drawings of engine components or lock parts have up to 5 decimal digits.

[@akaredcrossbow]

apprenticemath Thank you very much, I appreciate it

[@nasir85driv]

Tq teacher

[@mohamedsalman6612]

Thank you so much 😊 sir

[@chbry1050]

Very helpful

[@boonphitphanthavong4334]

Can read metric now!! 😂

[@surajrajbharsurajrajbhar9541]

विडियो बहुत अच्छा है ये विडियो हिंदी में तो और अच्छा लगे

[@apprenticemath]

Cheers, mate.

[@randypatungan1319]

Thank you.

[@Ajeetadvisor]

Very nice information My dout is clear

[@williamasbell5490]

thanks , I.learned lot from your lesson., I, really did, god bless you...

[@joycelawrence1434]

thank you!

[@apprenticemath]

That`s good to hear and good on you. Your story is a good example on how effective learning happens. Clear instruction is the start, but not much learning (=permanent wiring-in) takes place without the learner making sense of the material through intense interaction. Like you worded this interaction "you taught yourself". My videos are only meant to be reference, it is followed in-class by measuring everything from paper thickness to bolts to wire gauge.

[@kennypitas5862]

Thanks a lot.

[@MoMurda10]

very helpful! thank you. the first measurement of the block was the thickness?

[@apprenticemath]

It could be, but it depends on how the 3 dimensions are to be named. It could be length, width, height. It could be length, width, thickness. It could be length, breadth, depth or any other combination. Likewise, a living standing person has height. A sleeping or horizontal person or a bed has length. A sleeping person`s height could now be chest depth, thickness at waist or wherever you want to measure. Pick one frame of reference, it`ll work.

[@MoMurda10]

Thank you.

[@tasha1574]

FINALLY Thank you

[@apprenticemath]

Learners discussing, yes. No problem.

[@GATXShinGundam]

My hero Thanks

[@ralph1628]

Thank you so much, I understand now.

[@apprenticemath]

Thanks for watching.

[@boonphitphanthavong4334]

Omg thankyou so much!! I have been counting the lines not the gaps! I feel stupid now🤦🏽‍♂️.

[@mint_soup9743]

You’re not

[@rosamercadorivera6291]

Thank you very much 😁

[@DP-hy4vh]

The reason metric never caught on in the US is the use of decimal numbers in the measurements (.5 cm, .25 m, .7 km, etc.) If the metric system used fractions (1/2 cm, 1/4 m, 7/10 km) similar to the Customary system (1/2 in, 1/4 in, 7/16 in, etc.) it might have caught on.

[@Humpelstilzchen]

We don't do this. 0.5 cm are 5 mm, 0.25m are 25cm or 250mm, 0.7km are 700m 7000dm 70000cm 700000mm. Never 0.something 😉

[@pf5658]

Thank you for this video. For years I’ve been wanting to understand MM measurements and now I have better understanding of it. 😊 Btw. Are you a school teacher? You sound like one.

[@apprenticemath]

You are so welcome! Yup, I teach.

[@kainatrani476]

Help full

[@venustenshii]

thankyou!!!

[@kraequgold8297]

Thank you very much my school did not teach me this and i need it for a job this was very helpful

[@apprenticemath]

Glad it helped!

[@livinlikeriley]

Now I know. Thank you.

[@brandonmurphy5837]

Thank you 😊

[@apprenticemath]

Welcome!

[@adrianco1978]

Just a small point. You talk about counting gaps and not lines. The ruler starts at zero, so if you measure from the start of the ruler something that is five millimetres and count five lines, not including the zero line, you will be right, you don't count the first line as one. You add confusion by showing the ruler starting at zero and then later marking the line at the start of your measurement as one. It's not one, it's zero. Possibly this comment is equally as confusing but I hope you get what I'm saying

[@apprenticemath]

+Adrian Connolly It`s a really good small point. In metrology, there is no zeroeth (0th) anything. In counting words the first number is one (1). In math of course, there is zero. In math it`s dealt within the broader concept of "frame of reference". The hinges on the same door can be described as "on the left" or "on the right" by the same observer depending on the direction the observer faces. An object can be "at rest" on a table if the frame of reference ends with the room, since the Earth is in constant motion with everything on it. So as long as we all agree that door hinges are named when viewed exiting a room, rulers are read either with skip-counting or not-counting-the-first-line, and "at rest" will imply "with reference to the surface of the Earth" - we`re good. Not confusing, it`s life.

[@adrianco1978]

+apprenticemath While I genuinely admire your intelligence, I still think that you over confuse the metric system. If a person can count to ten then this is easy.

[@apprenticemath]

+Adrian Connolly Sure is easy. Thanks for the feedback. My classroom version is less confusing where students get a bigger picture (over 2 -5 days) not just this 10-min snapshot. (video was made for review/missing class)

[@frankpujo8073]

As a european I actually (no really) don't understand what's special, but probably because I have no idea how to measure with imperial... and if this is difficult for americans then imperial will be difficult for me I guess

[@mariya.07]

Thank you so much

[@apprenticemath]

You're most welcome

[@robertepapara5949]

Cool

[@mariya.07]

You are awesome

[@apprenticemath]

Thanks!

[@YouTuber-wp6dd]

Great

[@allhartfidelity]

So what about long measurments? You mention blueprints. An exterior wall is given in mm and not meter (yard) ?

[@Humpelstilzchen]

First i need to say sorry for my english. Yes its always in Millimeter. Always add a 0 beyond a full number on the scale to know the millimeters like you see here at 1centimeter or 10 mm. So if you use a long measurement tape lets say 10 meters (100 decimeters, 1000 cm, 10000 millimeters) and you need to mark the distance from your point 0 to 500 mm your tape shows 50 (cm). 759 mm look for the cm number 75 first and then look back at the mm lines to 9 (or 1mm line before the cm number 6). Same with 7593mm look for number 759 on the cm scale then mm scale 3. It's only a game with 10. 10mm 1cm, 100mm 10cm, 1000mm 100cm or 1meter and so on. Hope it was helpfull.

[@darnelljohnson6275]

Thanks this really helped me

[@apprenticemath]

Glad it helped

[@dan10026]

I'm a machinist---an imperial measurement such as 2.625 inches (2 5/8 inches) is routine and completely acceptable. you don't have to be genius material to understand either system.

[@apprenticemath]

Of course. Also proven by 19,000 subscribers

[@tonymontague5197]

Very helpful thank you I have never read a tape measure and I am awful at math 👍

[@apprenticemath]

Glad it was helpful!

[@0801rambo0]

thank you sir!! much well appreciated...

[@balbino108]

Thank You! I am Brasilian. I do not speack englesh, but I watch their videos and learn from them.

[@pepegonzalez9979]

😁🥶😄😬😅😂🤣

[@GoddammaddoG]

Is this video and all the comments serious? Thanks for explaining the decimal system.

[@akaredcrossbow]

Is 34mm the same as 3.4cm??

[@apprenticemath]

yes

[@akaredcrossbow]

Thank You Very Much Sir!!

[@davidgrant9564]

Lets see how smart you are, what is between 1mm to 2mm ?

[@apprenticemath]

to

[@azemmuhammad]

wow

[@adzijderlaan7070]

1 meter. milli=1/1000 so 1000 mm= 1 meter cent=1/100 so 100 cm= 1 meter.