Question

Chase drew a scale drawing of a community college. A building at the college, which is 260 meters long in real life, is 286 millimeters long in the drawing. what scale did chase use?

Answer 1

Given parameters:

Actual length = 260m

Drawing length = 286mm

Unknown:

Scale used = ?

Solution:

A scale compares drawing length to ground distance;

                    To find the scale,

Express the two quantities in the same unit;

       actual length  = 260 x 10⁻³m = 0.26mm

  Now;

           drawing length : actual length

                  286mm : 260 x 10⁻³mm

                  divide by 286;

                     1mm on drawing  : 9 x 10⁻⁴mm on map

   or;

                     1mm on drawing is 0.9m on ground