Final answer:
The scale of the drawing is 1 inch : 96 feet.
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the scale of the drawing, we need to compare the width in the drawing to the actual width. In this case, the width of the deck is 5 inches in the drawing and 40 feet in real life. We can write this as a ratio: 5 inches / 40 feet. To simplify this ratio, we can convert the units to the same type, either inches or feet. Let's convert both to feet by multiplying the inches by 1/12. This gives us a ratio of 5/480, which simplifies to 1/96. Therefore, the scale of the drawing is 1 inch : 96 feet.