Question

A map is drawn to a scale of 1:50000.The distance between long mountain and plaine des papayes is 17.5 cm on the map.find the actual distance in km.

Answer 1

8.75 km.

Explanation:

You can set up a ratio of the map to the actual distance of
`(1)/(50000)`.

Then, this ratio can be used to cross multiply and divide to get an equivalent ratio for the distance:

`(1)/(50000)`=
`(17.5 cm)/(x cm)` By cross-multiplying we have x (in centimeters) = 17.5×50000. This tells us that x = 875,000 cm.

However, the answer asks for the distance in kilometers, so we need to convert it. There are 100,000 centimeters in a kilometer, so by dividing: 875000÷100000=8.75 kilometers.