Read beakers, step by step
A beaker turns volume into something a child can see.
The question
Read the jug
goes up to:1000ml
gaps:10
one gap:100ml
read the bottom of the curve
100ml per gap
gaps counted:4
count in 100s:100, 200, 300, 400
- Work out one gap before anything else. The jug goes up to 1000ml, shared over 10 equal gaps — so one gap is 100ml. Not one — that is the assumption this whole topic is built to break.
- Read at the BOTTOM of the curve the liquid makes, not at its edges — the water climbs the sides a little and the middle is the true level.
- Count the gaps up to it: 4. Now count those gaps in 100s — 100, 200, 300, 400 — so it reads 400ml. Counting the marks alone would have given 4, which is the wrong answer that looks right.
How it works.
- 01
Work out one gap before anything else. The jug goes up to 1000ml, shared over 10 equal gaps — so one gap is 100ml. Not one — that is the assumption this whole topic is built to break.
- 02
Read at the BOTTOM of the curve the liquid makes, not at its edges — the water climbs the sides a little and the middle is the true level.
- 03
Count the gaps up to it: 4. Now count those gaps in 100s — 100, 200, 300, 400 — so it reads 400ml. Counting the marks alone would have given 4, which is the wrong answer that looks right.