Question

the table below gives the dimensions of a statue and a scale drawing of the statue. find the scale factor of the drawing. (the scale factor to get the drawing from the statue.) write your answer as a fraction in simplest form.

	drawing	statue
length (inches)	5	40

scale factor:

Explanation:

Step1: Recall scale - factor formula

The scale factor from the actual object (statue) to the drawing is the ratio of the dimension of the drawing to the dimension of the actual object. We can use either the height or the length. Let's use the height. The formula for the scale factor $k$ is $k=\frac{\text{Drawing dimension}}{\text{Statue dimension}}$.

Step2: Calculate the scale factor

Given that the height of the drawing is 6 inches and the height of the statue is 48 inches. Then $k = \frac{6}{48}$.

Step3: Simplify the fraction

To simplify $\frac{6}{48}$, we find the greatest - common divisor (GCD) of 6 and 48. The GCD of 6 and 48 is 6. Divide both the numerator and the denominator by 6: $\frac{6\div6}{48\div6}=\frac{1}{8}$.

Answer:

$\frac{1}{8}$