Length of blue cloth is 60 inches , length of gold cloth is 48 inches and length of white cloth is 72 inches.
<u>a.</u>
As, the length of all pieces are equal, so for getting the greatest possible length of the pieces, we need to find <u>GCF(greatest common factor) of 60, 48 and 72. </u>
First we will factor out all three numbers completely......

The common factors are: 2, 2 and 3
Thus the GCF 
So, the greatest possible length of the pieces without having any cloth left over will be 12 inches.
<u>b. </u>
For finding the number of pieces for each color cloth, we will just <u>divide the length of each cloth by 12</u>. So...
Number of pieces for blue cloth 
Number of pieces for gold cloth
and
Number of pieces for white cloth 
You can set both fractions to have the same denominator by multiplying 6/8 (both the 6 and 8) by 2 to keep the value of the fraction, while turning the denominator to 16. So you get 12/16=y/16.
That means for the equation to be true y has to be 12.
Hope this helps!
First number is length on map and second is the length in reality. Both are in kilometers.