Alright folks, let me tell you about my little morning adventure trying to figure out this 89 cm thing. Woke up needing that number in inches for a project, plain and simple.
The Headache Begins
First thing, grabbed my phone like anyone else. Typed “cm to inches” right there. Boom, a ton of sites popped up. Clicked the first one, super simple. Big box says “Centimeters,” little box says “Inches.” Put in my 89, hit enter…
- One site says: 35.03937 inches.
- Another site says: 35.04 inches.
- Third site: Straight up 35 inches even.
Hold up, what? Three different answers? This ain’t rocket science, it’s just measuring! Felt like slamming the phone down. Stupid calculators never work right when you need ’em.
Time for Old School
Fine. Forget the internet. Remembered a rule my grandad mentioned ages ago: One inch is about two and a half centimeters. Grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. Wrote down the number:
89 cm
Time to do some real math, the stuff you learn way back when.
- 89 divided by what? Ah, yeah, 2.5 cm per inch.
- So, 89 ÷ 2.5. Doing it slow: 89 ÷ 2.5 is…
That’s the same as 890 ÷ 25 (multiplying both by 10). - 890 ÷ 25. Okay, 25 goes into 89 three times? 25 x 3 = 75. Subtract 75 from 89? That leaves 14.
- Bring down the zero I added? 890 became 890 when I multiplied, so now it’s 140? This feels messy. Scratch that.
- Easier: 89 ÷ 2.5. Just move the decimal. 89 ÷ 2.5 = 890 ÷ 25. Better.
- 25 goes into 89 three times (75), subtract, 14 left. Bring down a zero, makes 140.
- 25 goes into 140 five times? 25 x 5 = 125. Subtract 125 from 140, leaves 15.
- Bring down another zero? Now 150. 25 goes into 150 six times (25 x 6 = 150). Perfect!
So what’s the total? 35… and from the division we had 35 point something. Looking at it: 3 (from 89), then 5 (from 140), then 6 (from 150). Ah! So 890 ÷ 25 = 35.6.
Result: 89 cm = 35.6 inches.
Checking My Work (and Grandad’s Rule)
Just to be sure, dug through a drawer and found an actual ruler with both cm and inches. Measured 89 cm on the cm side. Followed that line straight across to the inch side… lo and behold, it hit right about midway between 35.5 and 36 inches. Yeah, 35.6 makes sense. Grandad wasn’t kidding about the thumb rule. Felt pretty good figuring it out myself.
The “Best Way” For Me (Maybe For You Too)
So, the “Best Way”? Honestly? Forget those fiddly online calculators giving you weird numbers. Grab the real thumb rule:
1 inch = 2.5 centimeters (it’s close enough for most everyday stuff like my project).
- Got your centimeter number? Like my 89?
- Just divide it by 2.5.
- 89 ÷ 2.5 = 35.6
Boom. Inches. No wifi needed. No confusing results. Works every single time. Used it twice more already today. Kids even asked if I’m secretly a math teacher now. Hard pass!
