Originally Posted by
gobucks7
You all are so helpful....Thank you for all the help I have gotten already. My ??? is why do the square rulers only have 2 sides of the actual square and the other 2 sides are different? For example a 3 1/2 X 3 1/2 has 2 sides that are 3 1/2 and 2 sides that are 3 inches...How do I get a total 3 1/2 inch square???? Thank you so much for your help again
The ruler itself physically measures 3½"x3½", but the markings read whole inches on two sides and half inches on the other two sides simply because they start from the one edge. You're dividing the space by a whole number plus a fraction, not just a whole number. Whole inch rulers are marked with full inches all the way around.
If the center of the ruler were the center of the markings, with all four sides having ¼" around the edge, it might look prettier, but it would be much harder to use it for squaring or measuring of any kind.
