Question

A rectangular painting has an area of 720 square inches. It is to be reduced by 1/6 scale factor. What is area of the miniature copy.

Answer 1

Multiply the area of the rectangle by the square of the scale factor to get the area of reduced rectangle.

Reduced area = 720 * (1/6)^2
Reduced area = 720 * (1/36)
Reduced area = 720/6
Reduced area = ? sq in.

Answer 2

720/36=20 sq. in.
Let's say the original painting was 24x30"
24/6=4
30/6=5
4*5=20 sq. in., so the answer checks out!!