Hannah measured an Italian restaurant and made a scale drawing. She used the scale 3 centimeters = 1 meter. What is the drawing's scale factor?

Question

Simplify your answer and write it as a ratio, using a colon.

Answer 1

To find the scale factor, we compare the measurements of the drawing to the actual measurements.

Hannah's scale is 3 centimeters (cm) representing 1 meter (m). We need to convert 1 meter into centimeters since our drawing measurement is in centimeters:

1 meter = 100 centimeters.

Now, we have:

3 cm (drawing) : 100 cm (actual)

This can be written as:

3 : 100

Next, we simplify the ratio 3 : 100. The greatest common divisor (GCD) of 3 and 100 is 1, so the ratio cannot be simplified further.

Thus, the scale factor of the drawing is:

3 : 100