Answer: The scale factor is a ratio that compares the dimensions of an object to a copy of that object. To find the scale factor from the original picture to the copy, you can divide the length of the copy by the length of the original.
In this case, the length of the original picture is 8 feet and the length of the copy is 1/2 a foot.
So the scale factor is:
1/2 a foot / 8 feet = 1/16
This means that the copy is 1/16 the size of the original. This means that, for each inch or foot on the original, the same length on the copy is 1/16 of that length.
It's also common to express scale factor as a ratio or a fraction of the original, which in this case is 1/16
It's worth mentioning that you could use this same method to find the scale factor for any other dimension of the picture, such as width, height and so on.
Explanation: