Measure objects in centimeters, step by step

A ruler only makes sense when every centimeter on the page is a real centimeter.

The question
0123456789101112131415 _____ cm

Measure the toothbrush

start at:0
not at:the end of the ruler
read the far end:13
starts on:0
ends on:13
13 cm
  1. Line the object up with the 0, not with the end of the ruler. Every ruler has a little margin before its zero — measure from the end and the answer comes out a centimeter or two long, every time.
  2. Now follow the toothbrush to its far end and read the mark it stops on. Nothing is worked out here — the numbers along a ruler have already counted the centimeters from 0, so the mark at the end IS the measurement.
  3. So the toothbrush is 13 cm.

How it works.

  1. 01

    Line the object up with the 0, not with the end of the ruler. Every ruler has a little margin before its zero — measure from the end and the answer comes out a centimeter or two long, every time.

  2. 02

    Now follow the toothbrush to its far end and read the mark it stops on. Nothing is worked out here — the numbers along a ruler have already counted the centimeters from 0, so the mark at the end IS the measurement.

  3. 03

    So the toothbrush is 13 cm.