How big is an inch?

An inch is very common when it comes to measuring the length of items. There are tools specifically designed to measure an inch. Apart from that, there are rulers, yardsticks, measuring tapes, and many other options. This article will show how big an inch is through your everyday used items. Let's get into it.

1-inch equals 2.54 centimeters or 25.4 millimeters. It is a standard unit of length in the imperial measurement system. It can be easy to anticipate the size of 1 inch if you compare the size with everyday items. 

⅓ Of Post-It Notes

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Who doesn't love post-it notes? Coming in various shapes and sizes, these help us plan, memorize and explain things. The most common ones are the 3 by 3 notes we use in our homes and offices. These are basically the ones on bulletin boards.

Now let's come to the main point, what color is your favorite? Mine is yellow. They help me study better. And if you cut these yellow 3X3 notes in 3 parts, you will get a big inch. Don't worry, and you can try it for other colors too.

½ Diameter Of A Soda Can

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The size and diameter of soda cans vary. Most of us are familiar with the 12-ounce soda cans as they are easily available. Before I compare the size, let me tell you about the diameter.

The diameter of a circle measures the length from the top through the center from side to side. The diameter of a 12-ounce soda can is 2.13 inches. So, the diameter of half of the can is about an inch. When you measure halfway from across, you get 1-inch long.

An Inch On Your Finger

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This is the fastest and easiest way to measure 1 inch long. You can use your index finger to measure or visualize how big inch is. Just see the length of your fingertip to the first knuckle; you got yourself an inch.

Yes, various people have fingers of different sizes. However, the distance between the fingertip to the first knuckle equals about an inch for everyone. 

¼ Size Of An iPhone 5S Screen

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Launched back in September 2013, the iPhone 5S is ancient now with many newer models. But this model holds a special place in this article.

The size of an iPhone 5S is 4.87 inch long and 2.31 inch wide. The screen size is 4 inches. By now, you know the measurement. One inch equals ¼ of the screen size. With a 4-inch screen, iPhone 5S is the smallest model when compared.

1.25 Times Diameter Of A Penny

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Coins play such an important role in our day-to-day life. You can buy things with them and solve important life decisions by tossing them. You can use them in magic tricks to outsmart your 3-year-old niece or nephew. But their most important use is their referencing to find the size of items. For this article, let's forgo the usage of the buying thing.

The diameter of a penny is 0.75 inches. So, to equal a big inch, you need 1 and 1/3rd of the coin.

1/2 Of An Eraser

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An eraser is an essential part of our lives. They are the ones who clean our messes. Erasers can be of different sizes and shapes. You will find them at the end of your pencil, the shape of your favorite cartoon, and so many others.

Here I will use the most common and standard ones. The standard length of an eraser is 2 inches. So, it would be best if you had exactly half of it to reference an inch.

3 Times CDs

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Even though CDs are no longer in use nowadays, they hold a special place in the hearts of many people, especially the 90s kids. Still today you will find CDs lying around the house. You saw them in Instagram reels of artists creating amazing artwork in them.

The thickness of a case is about 0.39 inches. So, you need to stack 3 CD cases to get just over 1 inch.

5 Grains Of Rice

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Have you ever measured the size of a rice grain? A grain of rice is about 0.19 – 0.25 inches long. The longer ones will go above 0.25 inches. When you take 5 rice grains of average length, you equal about 1 inch.

2 Times diameter of a Bic pen

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Bic pens were Introduced in 1950. Over a billion of these pens have been sold all around the world. These pens have been used as a reference to measure the size of various things.

The diameter of a Bic pen is 0.5 inches. So, you take 2 Bic pens, place them side by side, and there you have it – 1 inch.

You can also measure them lengthwise. 1/6 of the pen would be equal to 1 inch long. You can cut them into six equal parts to get a better idea, but we don't support violence here.

1 paperclip

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We all have paper clips lying around our houses, office, and cars if we are messy. These paper clips are made of different shapes and sizes. But the most common one is the smaller ones. These are the ones we mostly use.

The length of the small paper clips is exactly an inch. There is no need to divide or add these to equal an inch. Just take one of the small ones, and you have an inch.

In this article, I talked about how big an inch is and reference objects to give you better idea about one inch length. If you didn't know before, now you do! Interested to know how big 1 foot is? Read this.