Talk:Ruler

"Spam"

Sorry for describing the last removal as a removal of linkspam. The linkspam I was after was already removed. However, I'm not sure if the link I removed was really relevant either. If you feel it was, please feel free to reinstate it. Aapo Laitinen 14:49, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

Emphasis

I know Wikipedia isn't meant to be safe for kids, but I'm a little queasy that so much of this article is devoted to hitting people with rulers! Is this really necessary? Sometimes the focus of Wikipedia is a little...strange. --Wtshymanski 15:58, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

You don't have to sit still for this. You have the power to change Wikipedia for the better. See below. -- Michael Geary 02:22, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

Moved "rulering" to its own article

I moved the content related to the use of rulers in punishment to its own article. It seemed rather out of place here, as one can see from previous complaints.

Thank you,

Michael Geary 02:31, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

iRuler appropriate for wikipedia?

Is this link helpful, or should it (as I think) be removed again? Thoughts please: 10:08, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

• Online ruler at iRuler.net —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Thorney¿? (talk • contribs).

It was really helpfull for me. I think it would be better if this link is not removed from article. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 217.195.82.2 (talk • contribs).

You already know WP:EL, so you obviously must be joking... Stop pushing for your site. Femto 18:22, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

I use this site regularly. I think it should exist at wikipedia. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 89.110.16.255 (talk • contribs).

Yeah, you already said that from the other IP. Give up already, you won't get your site listed. Femto 12:50, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

I think iRuler is funny but effective site. I say Yes for It. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.110.18.204 (talk) 23:09, 11 June 2007

Unfortunate mix of the colloquial and precise

"Ruler" means a person who runs a region. Use of the term to mean a measuring device is colloquial. The proper term for a measuring device is "rule". In many varied texts on scientific instruments that I have, the term "ruler" is not present; only "rule" is found. This includes both historical and modern instruments. This article should be called Rule and it should point out that "ruler" in incorrect usage in this context. The introductory statement Strictly speaking, the ruler is the instrument used to rule lines and the calibrated instrument used for determining measurement is called a measure. is something I've never heard stated before and is at odds with what I've learned in the past. Michael Daly 18:31, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Should this article be renamed to Rule(Measuring Device)

Thoughts on moving this article, surely the fact that it is colloquial doesn't mean it should be moved? Or should one simply redirect to the other? Thorney 00:15, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

It should be changed, for the sake of good English

I congratulate you Michael for pointing out the incorrect use of "ruler" for "rule" and agree this should be changed. John Darby 12:41 GMT, 10 February 2013 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.90.131.19 (talk) 12:50, 10 February 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia uses the common ("colloquial") name for article titles (such as Halley's Comet rather than "1P/Halley" and Caffeine rather than "1,3,7-Trimethyl-1H-purine-2,6(3H,7H)-dione"). (See WP:COMMONNAME.)

To this end, what is the common name for this object?

• dictionary.com does not give a definition for "rule" that applied here.[1] For "ruler", it is senses 2 and 3.[2]
• American Heritage Dictionary: "Rule" as sense 7, but as a redirect ("See ruler, sense 1.").[3]
• Merriam-Webster: "Rule", sense 4.[4] "Ruler", senses 2 and 3.[5]
• freedictionary.com: "Rule", sense 7.[6] "Ruler", sense 2.[7]
• staples.com: "Rule" brings up a long list of search results of notebooks, binder filler, classroom rule charts, a novel, a DVD, etc. and, eventually, some rulers. "Ruler" brings up 24 results on the first page: 22 rulers and 2 tape measures.
• amazon.com: "Rule" brings up a page of novels. "Ruler" brings up a page of rulers.
• target.com: "Rule" brings up a mix of items (866 of them), on the first page: novels, DVDs, hair care products, calendars, etc., none of which have anything to do with rulers. "Ruler" brings up 41 items, 28 of which are rulers or kids books where characters learn to use a ruler (gotta love Sid the Science Kid!).

Basically, it seems clear to me that the common name (which is what we should be using) is "ruler". - SummerPhD (talk) 16:02, 10 February 2013 (UTC)

Measuring Instruments

Actually i opened this page to get least count of diferent measuring instruments like vernier, steel rule, screw gauge, micro meter.but i faild to get data exactly what i need. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.93.117.246 (talk) 10:56, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

anyone know who invented it originally ?

anyone know who invented it originally ? 12.41.255.10 (talk) 20:20, 2 July 2010 (UTC)

Merge discussion

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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I propose that Measuring rod be merged into this article as a historical section. That article is stubby and I doubt it stands on its own in any case. It seems natural to me. --Ludwigs2 17:01, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

• Support per the nom. Wizard191 (talk) 17:58, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

• Support - the main discussion ia right now at Talk:Measuring rod although in fact it should be here. Dougweller (talk) 18:41, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

• Support - It fits in the history section as mentioned in the proposal above. --AnnekeBart (talk) 12:25, 20 April 2011 (UTC)

• Oppose - [redacted]This is just daft. If you merge it, you have to merge every different shape measuring device into a flat ruler. I'll just create Surveying rod if you do and then the picture with the peg can go back. Paul Bedson ❉talk❉ 20:49, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

You had better merge Yardstick too while you're at it. Except I think it's pretty clear that one's a stick and one's a flat ruler. So I oppose that too. Paul Bedson ❉talk❉ 20:54, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

• Oppose - A measuring rod has different use from the ruler and fully warrant it's own article. Petter Bøckman (talk) 08:14, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Merge discussion (tape measure)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Per a discusion on talk:measuring rod, I also propose that tape measure be merged into this article. it's another stubby article in the 'ruler' rubric - bringing that in here too would flesh this article out nicely. --Ludwigs2 18:53, 19 April 2011 (UTC)

[Oppose:]This is just daft too. There's a wealth of information about tape measures of different lengths and designs. It probably has it's own history of development. Lovely pictures too. Paul Bedson ❉talk❉ 20:52, 23 April 2011 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

merge RfC

The above polls are inconclusive (only partisan votes so far). So I'm going to open this up to a community RfC to get more input. I'll close the above discussions as inconclusive.--Ludwigs2 00:48, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

Should a number of smallish measurement related articles - Measuring rod, Tape measure, Yardstick - be merged into the Ruler article? The merge request focuses on two points:

• That all these are small. stub-like articles that might make one decent sized article if merged.
• That the 'measuring rod' article lends itself somewhat to fringe material, since it mainly deals with ancient tools and iconography

Should these articles be merged under the 'ruler' rubric, or are they better left as stand-alone articles? --Ludwigs2 00:48, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

• Merge as nom. the articles all strike me as stubs, without much possibility of expansion. merging them would make one good-sized article, resolve some redundancies, and give some useful structure (for instance, placing the 'measuring rod' material in as historical background for more modern rulers). --Ludwigs2 00:48, 4 May 2011 (UTC)
• Comment—I'm not clear how Measuring rod can be regarded as a stub; it is perhaps better developed than the current article. The Tape measure article is also much longer than a stub and is clearly different from a ruler; I'd be more inclined to keep that article separate from ruler than I would Yardstick or Measuring rod. Hence my preference would be to only merge Ruler, Measuring rod and Yardstick. The Tape measure has more in common with the Surveyor's chain.—RJH (talk) 23:10, 6 May 2011 (UTC)
  • The problem with the measuring rod article is that it's tremendously overwritten and tends towards OR. The history section could be reduced to about a third of its size without loss of information, the iconography section could be reduced to 3 or 4 lines and blended into the history section - really, that section should be titled something like "List of oblique references to measuring rods in religious documents". further, direct and indirect references to the 'megalithic yard' need to be removed - that's a fringe theory that holds that ancient cultures (broadly put) shared a common measuring rod for building megalithic structures (implying broad communication in the ancient world). That was, in fact, the more-or-less explicit intent of the author of that article, who does a lot of work on fringe theories related to ancient megaliths (which I don't mind, it just needs to be kept from being presented as mainstream). The reason I haven't made those changes in the article is because I'm anticipating the merge - if the merge doesn't happen, I'll have to do that and the article will shrink significantly. --Ludwigs2 00:01, 7 May 2011 (UTC)
• Agree with above comment - I think RJHall got it right, since the 'ruler' , 'rod' , and 'yardstick' would all be in similar characteristic to the ruler itself, while the measuring tape (whilst performing the same/similar function) is used much more like a surveyor's chain. And As to your comment, Ludwis2 about the OR and unverifiable claims, yeah I can definitely see where that would look apparent so I would say go ahead and merge ruler, rod and yardstick but think twice about the measuring tape before doing so. Demokratickid (talk) 00:27, 12 May 2011 (UTC)
• Merge only yardstick A measuring tape is a different tool used for different reasons and has a different history than a ruler; therefore it shares almost nothing in common and should not be merged. A yardstick is either a kind of ruler or a kind of measuring rod, but is used the same way as those tools. Also, yardstick is unit dependent and we do not have an article on meter stick. Zginder 2011-05-12T02:35Z (UTC)
• Merge all - The three "rigid" devices Measuring rod, Tape measure, Ruler, should certainly be a single article. An argument could be made that Measuring tape is sufficiently distinct, however, until the depth and detail in Measuring tape are increased, it may as well be a section in Ruler. When the measuring tape material gets voluminous enough, it could be split out per WP:Content fork. --Noleander (talk) 19:42, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

Tape measures aren't rigid. Whilst I'd agree with measuring rod & ruler, I can't see that going backwards is a good way to go forwards. If tape measure is so terrible, fix it first. It's hardly hard to source. Andy Dingley (talk) 20:02, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

• Oppose Ruler is, correctly, a small article for a small topic; it appears fairly complete as it stands. Measuring rod is more complex, because measuring rods are more complex. Please see the discussion by Hayes of the two cubit-rods in the Metropolitan Museum of New York, quoted by Clagett, Ancient Egyptian Science, A Source Book. Volume Three: Ancient Egyptian Mathematics, pages 10-11. That is not a description of a ruler. Justlettersandnumbers (talk) 11:27, 4 July 2011 (UTC)

Markings

Many rulers have markings (other than the ones used for the actual measuring), most commonly found in the first 10-30cm of the rulers, that indicate their accuracy, norm compliance, and other things. There is no mention of this in the article, but I think many people will probably look up "Ruler" on Wikipedia for information what these mean. --Laber□^T 17:22, 3 August 2016 (UTC)

Are those standarised? Can you source it? Looking at a range of rulers on my workbench I can see maker's names and (for steel rulers) a temperature rating that they're standard measurements at 20ºC. I can't see anything (even on a very high quality one) as to their accuracy. Andy Dingley (talk) 18:13, 3 August 2016 (UTC)

In Germany, standardized markings are common. The German page for "Yardstick" describes these, as used in the European Union. Translation:

Accuracy

For length measurement devices, precision classes as per EC(European Community)-norm 2004/22/EG are used. The precision class, accompanied by the EC number of approval can be found at the start of the scale.

Margins of error are expressed as the formula a+b*L, where L is the length to be measured (as rounded to the next full meter), a and b can be taken from the table. [...]

Precision Class	a (mm)	b (mm/m)	c (mm)
I	0,1	0,1	0,1
II	0,3	0,2	0,2
III	0,6	0,4	0,3

An example can be seen on this photo.

--Laber□^T 19:18, 3 August 2016 (UTC)

Thanks. What are they found on? Are they just used on carpenter's folding rules? Or would you expect to see them on an engineer's steel rule too? As I find double markings useful, nearly all of my rulers and tapes are British, with a few American tapes. Andy Dingley (talk) 21:04, 3 August 2016 (UTC)

I've looked up photos of steel rules sold in German shops and none of them appear to have markings like these, even those sold by Bernstein (which are intended for professional use). The article says "measurement devices", which contradicts my research. However, they can also be found on measuring tapes. From my experience, I can say that they are present on almost every folding rule I've seen, even promotional ones with the hardware stores' logo on the side. --Laber□^T 23:08, 3 August 2016 (UTC)

Some people might come to this Article looking for Head of state...

So I listed a "for" this "see" that, but I might need a little help formatting it. "Ruler" is also a generic term for heads of state (whatever form of government and hence type of head of state a given country has) and a rough translation of APXΩN. Anyway, I'm only asking for help to reformat that so it lines up with the other 2 links at the top of the Lead. The Mysterious El Willstro (talk) 06:47, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

Moot point: I figured it out, finally! The Mysterious El Willstro (talk) 07:12, 26 February 2017 (UTC)

Yardsick

In my opinion a ruler as such is not a measuring device like a yardstick and a measuring rod. A ruler typically may be a simple instrument, without a graduation, to draw straight lines. Madyno (talk) 23:19, 1 March 2023 (UTC)