Question

A model of a famous statue is 2 1/2 inches tall. The actual statue is 3 1/3 feet tall. What is the ratio of the height of the model to the height of the actual statue in simplest form?

Answer 1

2
`(1)/(2)` inches tall is the same as
`(5)/(2)` inches tall.

3
`(1)/(3)` feet tall is the same as
`(10)/(3)` feet tall.

If we multiply the actual height by 12, we can convert it to inches:

`(10)/(3)` *
`(12)/(1)` =
`(120)/(3)` =
`(40)/(1)` = 40 inches tall

Divide 40 by
`(5)/(2)`. Recall that you multiply by the reciprocal when dividing with fractions:

`(40)/(1)` *
`(2)/(5)` =
`(80)/(5)` = 16

Therefore, the ratio of the model to the actual statue is 1 : 16.

Hope this helps! :)