Question

Ivan made a scaled copy of the following triangle. He used a scale factor less than 1. What could be the length of the base of the scaled copy of the triangle? Choose 3 answers:

a) 4.5 units

b) 2 units

c) 1/2 unit

d) 6 units

e) 10 units

Answer 1

A scaled copy of a triangle using a scale factor less than 1 will have a base length less than the original. Potential scaled base lengths can be 4.5 units, 2 units, or \(\frac{1}{2}\) unit; options 6 units and 10 units are likely incorrect for a scale factor less than 1.

Step-by-step explanation:

If Ivan made a scaled copy of a triangle using a scale factor that is less than 1, it signifies that the copy will be smaller than the original triangle. To determine which of the base lengths are appropriate for the scaled copy, we must first consider that if the original base length is multiplied by a fraction (or a scale factor less than 1), the resulting base length of the scaled copy must be less than the original.

Without knowing the exact original base length of the triangle, we can still eliminate any options that are greater than potential original lengths if we assume the scale factor is less than 1. Therefore, the potential scaled base lengths could be:

• 4.5 units
• 2 units
• \(\frac{1}{2}\) unit

Option d) 6 units and e) 10 units are likely incorrect because they suggest a scale factor equal to or greater than 1, which contradicts the problem statement. Note that if the original base length were less than these values, a scale factor of less than 1 could not produce a scaled copy with these measurements.