Why would you measure a pencil in centimeters?

Answer 1

Mostly, you would measure a pencil, or anything else, in centimeters if the metric system is your system of measurement and you find it more convenient to use centimeters than milimeters, meters, or kilometers.

If, for example, you have a pencil that's 6 inches long, then 'centimeter' (cm) is the best metric unit in which to describe its length, simply because the cm produces the most convenient number ... the easiest number to write down remember, and tell other people about. See the list of examples, and select the one that's easiest to remember:

The length of the pencil is: 15.24 centimeters, 6 inches, 1/2 foot. 1/6 yard, 0.0000947 mile, 0.1524 meter, 152400000 nanometers, 152.4 millimeters, 0.0001524 kilometer ... etc.