If someone were to ask you how long is 3 feet, your mind can go blank. In the quickest response, you may say 3 feet is as long as one yard or one meter, which is true.
But still, your answer is not satisfactory.
What if you could name several things that are 3 feet long? That would make it easier to get a picture of how long 3 feet is.
And in this article, we’ll explore 10 items that can help you visualize a length of 3 feet without measuring.
Let’s go.
10 Common Things That are 3 Feet Long
1. A Standard Kitchen Countertop
Kitchen countertops are raised, flat, and horizontal surfaces found in many homes used mainly for food preparation, including chopping vegetables and making juices with blenders.
Many kitchen countertops are built with a standard height of 3 feet above the floor to allow users to do kitchen chores without difficulties. Such length is also ideal for kids to reach what they need on top of the countertops.
2. A Regular Baseball Bat
Like kitchen countertops, baseball ball bat is not a new name to many people. It’s a smooth stick or a metal club used to hit a ball in baseball, a popular sport in various countries, including the USA. If you’ve never seen the sport on TV, you must have seen boys playing it in school.
While baseball bats may vary in size depending on the player, standard ones usually fall between 2.8 and 3.5 feet. That makes baseball ball bats one of the best reference objects for visualizing a length of 3 feet. They may be a little longer or shorter, but that’s acceptable.
3. Three A4 Sheet Papers
A4 is the most common type of widely used sheet paper for letterhead stationery and general printing.
Most likely, you’ve encountered these A4 sheet papers, writing application letters, drawing, or doing assignments at school.
But you may have never known their size, apart from knowing they’re A4. Well, an A4 sheet paper measures 11.7 inches in height, according to Standard International Paper Sizes. So when you arrange three of them in a row according to their lengths, they add up to 35.1 inches, which is 2.925 feet.
You might not have these papers at the moment, but since you know them, you can easily visualize three in a row to estimate how long 3 feet is.
4. Three 2-liter Soda Bottles
Like kitchen countertops, everyone has come across a soda bottle. In fact, you could be having one, knowingly or unknowingly, in your house!
One 2-liter soda bottle measures 12.4 inches. That means if you place three of them end on end, they total 37.2 inches which translates to 3.1 feet. In approximation, 0.1 is a small and insignificant figure that cannot stop you from picturing how long 3 feet is.
5. Half the Size of the Average Man
The size of the average man is 5’9, according to Healthline. And when working with averages in approximation, that’s nothing but 6 feet.
Picturing a standing man, from the feet to the waist, gives you a better and relative idea of what 3 feet looks like without doing some simple math.
6. Three Submarine-style Sandwiches
Submarine-style sandwiches go by several names, including Dogwood hero, Hoagie, Heros, Submarine, and Grinder. The treats are popular, although they contain large amounts of calories and contribute significantly to weight gain.
Because of their unhealthy reputation, you may stay away from them.
However, you can use the sandwiches for reference when approximating lengths.
One Submarine-Style Sandwich measures approximately 12 inches, meaning you only need to arrange three (or picture them) in a row to get 36 inches, which translates to 3 feet.
7. Doorknob
Also called the door handle, the doorknob is another object known by everyone that you can use when referencing 3 feet.
According to the International Building Code, a doorknob should be between 34-48 inches in height from the top layer of flooring.
And to make it comfortable for most people, many contractors set 36 inches or 3 feet from the floor as the standard doorknob height.
Even if you are away from a house, you easily visualize that height from the floor to where you place your hand to open the door. It’s not surprising that the door handle corresponds to your waist height!
That said, in some special doors, like the ones leading to pools, the handles are placed higher, even up to 55 inches. So for a better approximation of 3 feet, use the main doors or those leading to rooms.
8. Yardstick
Yardsticks may be a vocabulary to many, but we’ve included them because they’re one of the few objects you can reference 3 feet lengths without bias.
Yards are wooden or plastic measuring tools with either metal or plastic hinges to allow easy folding. They’re common in construction and carpentry. You can also find them in homes, as they are ideal for measuring height.
Yardsticks are usually 3 feet long, and if you’re lucky to have interacted with one, it’s easy to approximate how long 3 feet is.
9. Three Rulers
We can all agree that most people have used rulers more than once in their lifetimes. That’s because rulers are the standard measuring tools in schools globally.
And if you’ve not forgotten, you’re aware that a typical ruler is 12 inches or 30 centimeters, which translates to one foot. So to approximate how long 3 feet is, arrange or visualize three standard rulers in a straight line.
10. Common Guitar
Are you a musician who plays guitar? Or just a casual guitar player? Even if you’re neither, chances are you’ve seen someone playing it or carrying one around. Right?
Well, if you can visualize the entire length of a common guitar (from the body to the tip of the headstock), you can approximate how long 3 feet is.
According to Zager guitar, the most common type of guitar measures 41 inches, which is 3.4 feet. It may be slightly longer than our mark, but nobody would beat you up when you referenced a common guitar for a 3 feet length.
