The upper bound of a + b can be found by adding the upper bounds of a and b.
For a = 5cm, the nearest whole number is 5. The upper bound would be the midpoint between 5 and 6, which is 5.5.
For b = 3cm, the nearest whole number is 3. The upper bound would be the midpoint between 3 and 4, which is 3.5.
So the upper bound of a + b is:
5.5 + 3.5 = 9
Therefore, the upper bound of a + b is 9cm.