A triangular flag has a base length of 21 inches and a height of 49 inches. Dillon makes a scale drawing of the flag in which the height is 14 inches. Dillon needs to find the area of the drawing.

First, find the base length of the drawing.

1 answer

To find the base length of the drawing, we need to maintain the same proportions between the original flag and the scale drawing.

The original dimensions of the flag are:

  • Base length = 21 inches
  • Height = 49 inches

Dillon's scale drawing has a height of 14 inches. We can find the scale factor by comparing the height of the drawing to the height of the original flag:

\[ \text{Scale factor} = \frac{\text{Height of drawing}}{\text{Height of original}} = \frac{14 \text{ inches}}{49 \text{ inches}} = \frac{14}{49} = \frac{2}{7} \]

Since the scale factor is \(\frac{2}{7}\), we can find the base length of the drawing by applying the same scale factor to the original base length:

\[ \text{Base length of drawing} = \text{Base length of original} \times \text{Scale factor} = 21 \text{ inches} \times \frac{2}{7} \]

Calculating this:

\[ \text{Base length of drawing} = 21 \text{ inches} \times \frac{2}{7} = \frac{21 \times 2}{7} = \frac{42}{7} = 6 \text{ inches} \]

Thus, the base length of Dillon's drawing is 6 inches.