When the sides of a pentagon (or any shape) are dilated by a scale factor less than 1, the lengths of the sides decrease. The area of a shape, on the other hand, is affected by the square of the scale factor.
If the scale factor is \( k \) (where \( 0 < k < 1 \)), the area of the pentagon will be multiplied by \( k^2 \). Since \( k^2 \) is also less than 1, the area will decrease.
Moreover, since the area scales with the square of the scale factor, it decreases more rapidly than the lengths of the sides, which scale linearly by \( k \).
Therefore, the correct response is:
The area decreases more rapidly than the lengths of the sides decrease.