Question

The length of a side of the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza, Egypt, is 751 feet. If you were to make a model of the pyramid to display on your desk, which would be an appropriate scale: 1 in. = 10 ft or 1 ft = 500 ft? Explain your reasoning.

Answer 1

An appropriate scale for a desk model would be 1 in. = 10 ft.

Here's the reasoning:

If we use the scale 1 in. = 10 ft, then the length of a side of the model pyramid will be 751 feet / 10 = 75.1 inches, or about 6.26 feet. This is still a big model, but it might be manageable as a desk display, depending on your desk size.

On the other hand, if we use the scale 1 ft = 500 ft, then the length of a side of the model pyramid will be 751 feet / 500 = 1.502 feet, or about 18.024 inches. This would be a much more appropriate size for a desk display.

However, the initial assumption that 1 in. = 10 ft might be suitable was wrong. In light of the new scale of 1 ft = 500 ft, this would be a more appropriate scale for a desk display, given that it would result in a pyramid model with sides measuring roughly 18.024 inches each.