Measuring Length

We will discuss about measuring length.

MEASUREMENT OF LENGTH

Look at the following illustrations.

Measurement of Length

We see that the length of the sharpener is small, the length of the table is big and the length of the road is very big.

Body parts used to measure the length of objects are called non-standard units of length.

Non-standard Units of Length

Kevin wants to measure the length of his pencil.

He compares its length with his handspan and with the length of his erasers.

Handspan Compare Length

The pencil is a bit longer than Kevin's handspan.

Compare Length Using Non-standard Units of Length

The pencil is about 4 erasers long.

Kevin's sister measures the pencil with her erasers and handspan.

The measurements she gets are different because her eraser and handspan are different.

The measurements would be the same if both used a standard unit of length to compare.

However, we have two limitations with this method.

• We cannot measure very small or large lengths.

• These measurements differ from person to person.

We, therefore, need to use standard units for measuring length.


Standard Units of Length:

The standard unit for measuring length is metre. Its symbol is 'm'. We can measure the length of a room, the height of a pole or height of a building in metre (m).


Centimetre is a small standard unit. It is useful for measuring small lengths.

For measuring smaller lengths led cast that of a sharpener, a pencil or a book, we use a smaller unit called centimetre (cm).

Your ruler has centimetre marks on one side.

Ruler has Centimetre Marks on One Side

In this ruler, the tall lines are 1 centimetre apart. Centimetre is written as cm short.

For measuring larger lengths such as distance between two far off places like Delhi and Chennai, or the length of a sea beach, we use a larger unit called kilometre (km).

One metre (1 m in short) is much long than one centimetre. Your height should be a bit more than 1 metre.

1 m = 100 cm

1000 m = 1 km


Bigger lengths are measured in metres.

The lengths of cloth, rooms, pipes, wires, and so on, are measured in metres.

For this we use a metre scale or metre tape.

Suppose children are running a race of 100 meter (m). Sam is measuring the height of the wall in meters. The length is measured in meters.  A meter is too long to be drawn here. Small lengths are measured in centimeters. Ron is measuring the width of his book in centimeters.

100 centimeters equal 1 meter

                    or

1 meter equal 100 centimeters

We write centimeter in short form as ‘cm’ and meter as ‘m’. So we can write in short as;

100 (cm) equal 1 (m)

               or

1 (m) equal 100 (cm)


Some Instruments Used for Measuring Length:

The following are three kinds of meter scales generally used by everyone.

(i) A meter rod which is made of iron or wood is used by cloth merchants for measuring cloth.

(ii) A meter scale is used by masons or carpenters.

(iii) A meter scale is used by tailors.

IF YOU STRETCH BOTH YOUR HANDS, YOUR FULL SPAN IS ABOUT 1 M.

THE WIDTH OF YOUR FINGER IS ABOUT 1 cm


Metre is the standard unit for measuring length.

We write m for metre. We use metres to measure longer lengths.

Measuring Length

We measure smaller lengths, like that of a pencil, in centimetres. This is a centimetre scale. Centimetre is written as cm.

Measurement of a Pencil

This pencil is 8 cm long.


Photo Frame Length
Photo Frame Width

This frame is long _____ cm.

This frame is _____ cm wide.


Measure the length of the picture of this Christmas tree.

Measurement of the Christmas Tree

The Christmas tree is _____ cm long.


Decide whether you will measure the length of following objects in metre or centimetre. Put tick (✔) mark against the correct box.

m or cm


Extra Questions for Sharp Students on Measuring Length!

1. Write Meter or Centimeter in the blank Space:

(i) My pencil is 10 ____________ long.

(ii) My height is 90 ____________.

(iii) Our classroom is 5 ____________ long.

(iv) This tree is 3 ____________ high.

(v) My hair pin is 3 ____________ long.


2. Decide whether these lengths are long or short and use m or cm accordingly:

(i) The length of a toothbrush _____

(ii) The height of a tree _____

(iii) The length of a wall _____

(iv) The length of a spoon _____

(v) The thickness of a book _____


3. Measure the following length is centimeters:

Note:

Students need to use the ruler or scales to measure the length.


Worksheet on Measuring Length:

1. Measure the length of each pencil using the centimetre scale and answer the questions that follow.

Measurement of Pencils

(a) Which is the shortest pencil?

(b) Which is the longest pencil?

(c) _____ pencil is longer than red pencil but shorter than blue pencil. 

(d) Yellow pencil is _____ cm shorter than blue pencil.


Answer:

1.

Measurement of the Pencils

(a) Yellow pencil (7 cm) is the shortest pencil.

(b) Blue pencil (15 cm) is the longest pencil?

(c) Orange pencil

(d) 8 cm 


2. Measure the following:

AB is ____ centimeters long.

EF is ____ centimeters long.

MN is ____ centimeters long.

XY is ____ centimeters long.

3. A train is 150 meters long and the platform at the station is 285 meters long. How far does the train travel in crossing the platform?


Answer:

3. 435 meters


4. A cloth is sold at $7 a meter. Find the price of 65 meters of the same cloth?


Answer:

4. 455 meters

You might like these




2nd Grade Math Practice

From Measuring Length to HOME PAGE




Didn't find what you were looking for? Or want to know more information about Math Only Math. Use this Google Search to find what you need.



New! Comments

Have your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below. Ask a Question or Answer a Question.




Share this page: What’s this?

Recent Articles

  1. Volume of a Cuboid | Volume of Cuboid Formula | How to Find the Volume

    Jul 20, 25 12:58 PM

    Volume of Cuboid
    Cuboid is a solid box whose every surface is a rectangle of same area or different areas. A cuboid will have a length, breadth and height. Hence we can conclude that volume is 3 dimensional. To measur…

    Read More

  2. 5th Grade Volume | Units of Volume | Measurement of Volume|Cubic Units

    Jul 20, 25 10:22 AM

    Cubes in Cuboid
    Volume is the amount of space enclosed by an object or shape, how much 3-dimensional space (length, height, and width) it occupies. A flat shape like triangle, square and rectangle occupies surface on…

    Read More

  3. Worksheet on Area of a Square and Rectangle | Area of Squares & Rectan

    Jul 19, 25 05:00 AM

    Area and Perimeter of Square and Rectangle
    We will practice the questions given in the worksheet on area of a square and rectangle. We know the amount of surface that a plane figure covers is called its area. 1. Find the area of the square len…

    Read More

  4. Area of Rectangle Square and Triangle | Formulas| Area of Plane Shapes

    Jul 18, 25 10:38 AM

    Area of a Square of Side 1 cm
    Area of a closed plane figure is the amount of surface enclosed within its boundary. Look at the given figures. The shaded region of each figure denotes its area. The standard unit, generally used for…

    Read More

  5. What is Area in Maths? | Units to find Area | Conversion Table of Area

    Jul 17, 25 01:06 AM

    Concept of Area
    The amount of surface that a plane figure covers is called its area. It’s unit is square centimeters or square meters etc. A rectangle, a square, a triangle and a circle are all examples of closed pla…

    Read More