To solve the exercise, we can use the rule of three:
Since we know that there are 100 centimeters in a meter, we have:
[tex]\begin{gathered} 2.54\operatorname{cm}\rightarrow1\text{ in} \\ 100\operatorname{cm}\rightarrow x\text{ in} \end{gathered}[/tex][tex]\begin{gathered} x=\frac{100\operatorname{cm}\cdot1in}{2.54\operatorname{cm}} \\ x=\frac{10in\cdot1}{2.54} \\ x=\frac{10in}{2.54} \\ x=39.37in \end{gathered}[/tex]Therefore, there are 39.37 inches in a meter stick.