Final answer:
To represent the rectangle's dimensions with the length being half the width, a variable 'w' can be defined for the width, and the length can be calculated as 0.5w. This method helps in calculating the dimensions for both real-life measurements and scale drawings.
Step-by-step explanation:
To represent the unknown quality of a rectangle where the length is half its width, we can define a variable for the width. Let's call the width of the rectangle "w". Since the length is half of this, we can express the length as ½w or 0.5w, where w is the variable representing the rectangle's width. With this variable, we can describe the dimensions of the rectangle in terms of w and easily calculate the length.
For instance, if the measured width of the rectangle is 1.25 cm (based on the provided measurement instructions), we can determine the length by taking half of 1.25 cm, resulting in a length of 0.625 cm.
In the case of Rano's backyard, where the actual dimensions are 50 feet by 30 feet and he's using a scale of half an inch equals 5 feet, we can calculate the scale drawing dimensions. The width on the scale drawing would be 50 feet × (½ in./5 ft) = 5 inches, and the length would be 30 feet × (½ in./5 ft) = 3 inches.