Question

Franco drew a scale drawing of a house. He used the scale 7 millimeters = 1 meter. What is the scale factor of the drawing?

Simplify your answer and write it as a fraction.

Answer 1

To find the scale factor of Franco's drawing, we start with the given scale: 7 millimeters = 1 meter.

First, we need to express both quantities in the same unit for clarity. Since the scale is given in millimeters, we convert 1 meter to millimeters.

1 meter = 1000 millimeters.

Now we can set up a ratio to express the scale factor. The scale factor compares the drawing size (in millimeters) to the actual size (in millimeters).

The scale can be written as:

\[
\text{Scale factor} = \frac{\text{Drawing size (mm)}}{\text{Actual size (mm)}} = \frac{7 \text{ mm}}{1000 \text{ mm}}
\]

Now, we simplify this fraction:

\[
\text{Scale factor} = \frac{7}{1000}
\]

Thus, the scale factor of the drawing is:

\[
\frac{7}{1000}
\]