What would you do with out a tape measure?
- Tape measures are rulers that are flexible and are used for measuring.
- ‘Tape measures’ are also known as ‘measuring tapes’.
- Tape measures are primarily very long rectangles made of metal, plastic, cloth or fibreglass, or sometimes paper, that include markings in increments according to a specific system of measurement.
- Tape measures are typically used in tailoring or construction, the latter often using metal tapes.
- Tape measures are typically stored rolled in a circle, and sometimes they retract into small containers, and these types of tape measures were originally referred to as ‘spring-click tapes’ and are now commonly called ‘retractable tape measures’.
- Metal tape measures used for construction purposes are semi rigid when extended, typically have a perpendicular metal tab to hook onto objects, and sometimes they include specific markings to mark out trusses and studs in house construction.
- Englishman, James Chesterman from Sheffield, invented, or improved upon, the retractable tape measure in 1829, which was successfully patented, and then later improved upon by Alvin Fellows in Connecticut’s New Haven, in the United States, on 14 July, 1868.
- The longest tape measure in the world is gold plated and was made in 1956 by a surveyor and tape-maker, Justus Roe, and it measures 180 metres (600 feet).
- Tape measures are often double sided, with metric measurements on one side, and imperial on the other.
- Retractable tape measures usually have a stop mechanism so that they tape can be extended and held into position, and then released with the press of a button.
Bibliography:
Tape measure, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_measure
What is a Tape Measure?, 2014, WiseGEEK, http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-tape-measure.htm
