Lesson 1

All measurements are considered approximate. The choice of a measuring device with small divisions is important in determining a precise measurement. For example, if you measure the diameter of an orange with a ruler stick that has divisions of 1 cm and your measurement is closer to 11 cm than it is to 10 cm or 12 cm, you would say the diameter of the orange is 11 cm.

If you measure the diameter of the same orange using a ruler with divisions of 1 mm, the result might be 10.8 cm. If you used a measuring device with even smaller divisions, your measurement would be more precise.