How Big is a Meter Stick

A meter stick is a type of ruler that is used primarily to measure the length, width or thickness of any object. You will commonly find this in classrooms or school laboratories.

This measuring stick typically has meter equivalents in decimeters, centimeters and millimeters on one side and the opposite side has equivalent measurements in inches.

How Big is a Meter Stick?

A meter stick is equivalent to one meter, about 39.37 inches, 3.28 feet and approximately 1.094 yards. It is approximately 7 millimeters thick or about one-fourth of an inch thick.

Its width is usually anywhere between one-half of an inch to one inch. It can be made from wood or metal materials.

Meter Conversions

In a meter stick, you will usually find decimeters, centimeters and millimeters. “Deci” is translated as one-tenth in measurements so a decimeter is equivalent to one-tenth of a meter.

“Centi” on the other hand means one-hundredth so a centimeter is equivalent to one-hundredth of one meter. Finally, “milli” is translated as one-thousandth so a millimeter is equivalent to one-thousandth of a meter.

When measuring shorter lengths using the meter stick, centimeters are often referred to. Now to get the equivalent in inches, you simply have to refer to the opposite side of your meter stick where the inches equivalents are and see where the centimeter line meets the inches line.

Using a Meter Stick

When using the meter stick to measure the length of an object, you simply have to lay the stick flat on the object or alongside it, lengthwise to see how long the object is.

To measure the width of an object with your meter stick, simply place your stick across the object to measure its width. For an object’s thickness, you will have to place the object against the meter stick, with the stick “standing” to see how thick the object is.

Meter sticks are often used to measure anything that is longer than twelve inches or what is commonly the size of your regular ruler. In younger kids, this measuring stick is often used to measure their heights.

This is also used in several other things such as woodwork projects, home improvements projects, school assignments as well as in several work fields such as engineering and architecture.

Meter sticks are available in school supplies stores both online and in land-based shops. You may also find helpful tutorials on how to make your own meter stick right on the internet. Printable paper meter sticks are also available online.