Chaz draws a square with sides equal to 4 units, then he difates the square so the sides are equal to 6 units. Chaz writes a fraction in lowest terms to express the relationship between the area of the original square and the dilated square, with the numerator expressing the area of the dilated square. What is that fraction?

1 answer

To find the fraction expressing the relationship between the area of the dilated square and the original square, we first need to calculate the areas of both squares.

  1. Area of the original square: The side length of the original square is 4 units. The area \( A_1 \) of a square is given by the formula: \[ A_1 = \text{side}^2 = 4^2 = 16 \text{ square units} \]

  2. Area of the dilated square: The side length of the dilated square is 6 units. The area \( A_2 \) of the dilated square is: \[ A_2 = \text{side}^2 = 6^2 = 36 \text{ square units} \]

  3. Expressing the relationship as a fraction: The fraction expressing the relationship with the area of the dilated square in the numerator and the area of the original square in the denominator is: \[ \frac{A_2}{A_1} = \frac{36}{16} \]

  4. Simplifying the fraction: We can simplify the fraction \( \frac{36}{16} \) by finding the greatest common divisor (GCD) of 36 and 16, which is 4: \[ \frac{36 \div 4}{16 \div 4} = \frac{9}{4} \]

Thus, the fraction in lowest terms that expresses the relationship between the area of the dilated square and the original square is: \[ \boxed{\frac{9}{4}} \]