How to Read Measurements on a Tape Measure in Meters

Confused about the meter reading on a tape measure and don’t know what the lines and numbers on it mean? Is this your first time measuring in metric? Don’t worry though – it may seem complicated at first, but once you know what they mean, you can soon jot down and convert the numbers you want. While you may be familiar with the British system of measurement, most people around the world use the metric system – so when you learn to read a ruler in metric units you are also learning a very useful skill. ! ^{[1] X Research Source}

Table of Contents

Find the row with the measurement in meters.

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The meter is a unit of measurement of the metric system. You don’t read measurements in British metric, so look for the metric row. The metric system is usually in the bottom row with smaller numbers, while the British system is usually in the upper row with larger numbers. To be sure, you can also check the letters “cm” or “m” as these are metric measurements. ^{[2] X Research Source}

Not all tape measure lines have text marks, but if they do, they are likely to be in the far left corner.
If you only see 1 row of lines, try flipping the tape measure over. The other side may have additional measurement lines.
If the tape measure only has British or “inches” and “feet”/”ft marks on the tape measure, you will have to find another ruler.

Identify millimeters.

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Millimeters are the smallest units under meters. In the metric row on the tape measure, millimeters are the smallest lines and are not numbered. 10 millimeters equals 1 centimeter – which means you should see 9 millimeter lines between the centimeter numbers on the tape measure, because the 10th millimeter mark is the centimeter number. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

For example, you will see 9 shorter lines between the numbers “5” and “6.”

Find centimeters.

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The centimeter is the second smallest unit under the meter. They are indicated by lines and larger numbers on the metric row. You should see a slightly longer line at the midpoint of the centimeter lines. This line represents half a centimeter, which is 5 millimeters. It is longer than the millimeter lines but shorter than the centimeter lines. It is also usually not written in words. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

For example, you’ll see a slightly longer line between the numbers “3” and “4.” This line indicates 3 centimeters and 5 millimeters, which is 3.5 centimeters.

Find meters.

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1 meter equals 100 centimeters. That means every 100 centimeters you will see a meter line.

For example, you will see the number 3 meters after 300 centimeter lines.

Measure an object and record the measurement.

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After being able to recognize and read metric lines, you can now measure! Starting from the left end of the tape measure is marked “0”. Find the line furthest to the right that coincides with the edge of the object you are measuring and record it.

For example, a 205 centimeter mark will indicate 2.05 meters.
A 4 millimeter line after a 2 centimeter line will show a result of 2.4 centimeters.

See if you need to convert.

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If your measurement exceeds 100 centimeters, you have read your measurement in meters! For example, if you measure 205 centimeters, you already have a result of 2.05 meters and can stop here – no more conversions needed. However, if the measurement is less than 1 meter, you will need to convert.

For example, if there is an object that measures 13 centimeters but you need to read the measurement in meters, you will have to convert the centimeters to meters.

Convert millimeters to meters.

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Use this conversion if your item is less than 1 centimeter. 1000 millimeters equals 1 meter, so divide the number of millimeters by 1000 to find the number of meters. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

For example, if you write the measurement as 5 millimeters, divide by 5/1000 to get 0.005 m.

Convert from centimeters to meters.

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Use this conversion if the object you are measuring is larger than 1 centimeter. 100 centimeters is equal to 1 meter, so you would divide the measurement of centimeters by 100 to find the number of meters. ^{[6] X Research Source}

For example, if you write the measurement as 9.5 centimeters, divide by 9.5/100 to get 0.095 m.

Advice

Using different types of tape measure should not affect this method as the conversion remains the same.

Steps