What is a Centimeter – Definition With Examples

What Is a Centimeter? 

A centimeter is a metric unit of measurement used for measuring the length of an object. It is written as cm. 

• A meter has 100 centimeters.
• 10 millimeters make one centimeter.
• The centimeter can be written as cm.
• While calculating the surface area of an object, the unit of measurement becomes cm².
• While measuring the volume of an object, the unit of measurement becomes cm³. 

The two standard tools of measurement are: 

1. Ruler

Ruler: A ruler is the most common measurement tool in mathematics. It is used to measure small objects, for example, notebooks, pencils, and bottles. Most rulers come with two measurement metrics, centimeters and inches. Commonly there are 15 or 30 centimeters in a ruler.

2. Meter Stick

Meter stick: A meter stick is a measurement tool that measures one meter (hundred centimeters) and is used to measure things in meters and centimeters. Things like the length of a table or the width of a bag can be measured using a meter stick.

You must be wondering how big is a centimeter? To give you an idea, here are some things that can be measured in centimeters:

• The waist size of a pair of trousers
• Length of the fish caught
• The radius of a car’s tires
• The distance between a person’s eyes
• The length of a pencil
• The length of a feather

Relation to other standard units: 

Let’s convert centimeters to other units of measurement of length.

Solved Examples:

Example 1: Harper measures the growth of her plants for 5 weeks in millimeters. How tall is the plant in centimeters?

Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5
10	12	8	14	6

Solution:

Total growth of plant in 5 weeks = (10 + 12 + 8 + 14 + 6) mm

= 50 mm

= 50 ÷ 10 cm (1 cm = 10 mm)

= 5 cm

Example 2: James is participating in the 50-meter dash. Each day, he runs the dash 4 times as he trains himself. How far does he run in centimeters?

Solution:

Total distance ran = 4 × 50 metre 

= 200 metre

= 200 × 100 cm (100 cm = 1 m)

= 20,000 cm

So, James runs 20,000 cm as he trains himself.

Example 3: Theodore measured a line drawn on a whiteboard. It is 400 millimeters long. How many centimeters is the line?

Solution:

1 cm = 10 mm

400 mm = 40 × 10 mm = 40 cm

So, the line measures 40 cm.

Example 4: Elijah has to take his dog for a walk to the garden, which is 32.80 feet from his house. How many centimeters is the garden from the house? How many meters is the garden from the house?

Solution:

1 cm = 0.0328 feet

32.80 feet = 32.80 ÷ 0.0328 cm = 1000 cm

1 cm = $\frac{1}{100}$ m 

1,000 cm =  $\frac{1,000}{100}$ m = 10 m

Practice Problems

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