Question

Suppose we have a solid with volume 10 cubic units.

It's dilated, and the volume of the image is 40 cubic
units.
How can you find the scale factor that was used?

Answer 1

Explanation:

We can use the fact that the ratio of the volumes of two similar solids is equal to the cube of their corresponding linear dimensions, also known as the volume-scale factor:

(volume of image) / (volume of original) = (linear dimension of image / linear dimension of original)^3

(40 cubic units) / (10 cubic units) = (linear dimension of image / linear dimension of original)^3

4 = (linear dimension of image / linear dimension of original)^3

Taking the cube root of both sides, we get:

(cube root of 4) = (linear dimension of image / linear dimension of original)

Simplifying, we have:

2 = (linear dimension of image / linear dimension of original)

Therefore, the linear dimensions of the image are two times greater than those of the original. Thus, the scale factor is 2.