#METRIC SCALE RULER CONVERSIONS HOW TO#

To show the detail of system components and assembliesįigure 2 – Preferred scales for building drawings Architect’s (imperial) scales.

To indicate the juxtaposition of the rooms and locate the positions of piping systems and components.

To show the overall design of the building.

To locate the building, services and reference points on the site.

For another example, 30 mm on the drawing represents 50 × 30 mm = 1500 mm (or 1.5 metres) on the object.įigure 2 lists the scale ratios used for building plans and construction drawings in both metric and the approximate equivalent architectural scale ratios. This means that the object is 50 times as large as the drawing, so that 50 mm on the object is represented by 1 mm on the drawing. For example, the standard metric scale ratio that corresponds approximately to ¼ “ = 1 ‘-0 “ is written on drawings as “Scale 1:50.” Metric scale ratios use the same units in both ratio terms, resulting in an expression of how many times smaller than the object the drawing is. At the same scale, a line 1½ “ long represents an object 6 ‘ long, because 1½ “ contains 6 quarter-inches. This means that a line 1/4 “ long on the drawing represents an object that is one foot long. The most common architect’s scale used is 1/4 inch to the foot, written on drawings as: The architect’s scales use ratios of inches to a foot. For drawings smaller than the object, the ratio is that of a smaller distance to a larger one. The scale is the ratio of the size of the drawing to the object. In the latter case, this will be indicated by the “not to scale” abbreviation (NTS). The scale of the drawing is always written on the drawing, unless the drawing is not drawn to scale. The kinds of rulers we will be discussing for making scaled drawings are the architect’s scale and the metric scale, both shown in Figure 1.Īrchitect’s scale ruler Metric scale ruler Reduction scales make the drawing smaller than the object. For the purposes of representation, we will only be concerned with reduction scales.

The flexibility to draw proportionally in different sizes is provided by scales. It is large enough to provide the desired detail but small enough to be handy. The convenience comes from the size of the drawing. The accuracy is achieved because the drawing is proportional to the real thing.

Scale drawings are accurate and convenient visual representations made and used by engineers, architects, and people in the construction trades.

Use scale rulers to determine actual dimensions from drawings.

We rarely use the last two of them: the human experience is limited to the kilometer.By the end of this chapter, you should be able to: The submultiples of the meter are, in order of decreasing magnitude: Back then, the definition was 'one ten-millionth of the distance on the Earth's surface from the north pole to the equator, on a line passing through Paris' now we define the meter as the distance covered by light in 1 / 299792458 1/299792458 1/299792458 of a second: talk about scientific improvement! The unit was created in 1793 by French scientists. The word meter comes from the Greek métron, ' measure'. The primary unit for the length is the meter.

#METRIC SCALE RULER CONVERSIONS HOW TO#

To understand how to convert metric units, the easiest thing is to explore how this process works for a specific quantity, let's say, length.

Metric scale ruler conversions