Question

The students in class are building a rectangular float for a homecoming parade. The float will be 6 feet wide by 10 feet long. The students made a scale drawing of the float that is 14 inches long. What is the approximate width of the scale drawing of the float?

Answer 1

The scale drawing of the float is shown to be 14 inches long. The actual float has its length as 10 feet long. That means the scale used is;

`\begin{gathered} \text{Scale}=(14)/(120) \\ \text{Note that 10 f}eet\text{ equals (10 x 12) 120 inches } \\ \text{Scale}=(7)/(60) \\ \text{For the width of the scale drawing, we use the scale as follows;} \\ \text{Scale}=(7)/(60)*\text{actual} \\ \text{Scale}=(7)/(60)*72 \\ \text{Scale}=(7)/(5)*6 \\ \text{Scale =}(42)/(5) \\ \text{The width of the scale drawing is 8}(2)/(5) \\ \text{The approx}imate\text{ width therefore is 8 inches} \\ \text{This is because }(2)/(5)\text{ or 0.4 cannot be approx}imated\text{ to a whole number} \end{gathered}`