Final answer:
The scale factor is determined by dividing the scale measurement by the actual measurement.
Step-by-step explanation:
To figure out each scale factor, you divide the measurement of the model or drawing (the scale) by the actual measurement. Let's take example number 9: A rectangle has a width of 2 inches. A similar rectangle has a width of 9 inches.
What scale factor could be used to convert the larger rectangle to the smaller rectangle? The scale factor from a width of 9 inches to a width of 2 inches is calculated by 2/9.
In example number 5, with a boat of actual length 24 feet and a scale factor of 1/36, the length of the model boat is found by multiplying the actual length by the scale factor: 24 feet * 1/36, converting feet to inches (1 foot = 12 inches), the model boat should be 8 inches long.
For example number 8, Sydra observed a housefly and made a scale drawing using a scale factor of 10. The actual length of the housefly was 8 millimeters. To find the length in the drawing, multiply 8 mm by the scale factor of 10 which gives 80 millimeters. To convert to centimeters, divide by 10, resulting in 8 centimeters.