Does a protractor measure inches the same way as a ruler?

Sometimes, the straight edge at the bottom of the protractor is marked as a ruler. Perhaps that is what you refer to when you posted your question. As for measuring inches, an inch is a specific distance. Therefore, anything that measures inches must measure an inch in the same way.

a protractor is for measuring degrees of angles basically, it can have measurements on the bottom but they are not what it's used for

No. It measures angles.

No , it measures angles.

No, a protractor measures the angle between two lines. An angle is measured in *degrees*, not inches.

If you think about two lines that are going off in different directions to make an angle, you cant measure the distance between them in inches. If you measure the distance close to the start of the angle, you'd get a smaller distance, but further away you'd get a much larger distance. So measuring an angle in inches doesn't make sense.

Instead, a protractor is marked in degrees with 180° in a half circle or 360° in a full circle.

The purpose of protractors is measuring angles.