Original scale: 1 inch = 4 feet. A square with 12 foot sides and a larger square with 15 foot sides.

Raphael saw a square patio that was 12-feet long on each side. He wants to build a patio that will be 15-feet long on each side.

The change in the scale factor is
.

1 answer

To find the scale factor between the original size of the patio and the size that Raphael wants to build, we first need to convert the lengths from feet to inches using the scale provided:

  1. Original square patio size:

    • Side length: 12 feet
    • Since 1 inch = 4 feet, we convert: \[ 12 \text{ feet} = \frac{12 \text{ feet}}{4 \text{ feet/inch}} = 3 \text{ inches} \]
  2. New square patio size:

    • Side length: 15 feet
    • Similarly, convert: \[ 15 \text{ feet} = \frac{15 \text{ feet}}{4 \text{ feet/inch}} = 3.75 \text{ inches} \]
  3. Calculating the scale factor:

    • To find the change in the scale factor, we divide the side length of the new patio by the side length of the original patio: \[ \text{Scale factor} = \frac{\text{New side length}}{\text{Original side length}} = \frac{3.75 \text{ inches}}{3 \text{ inches}} = 1.25 \]

Thus, the change in the scale factor is 1.25.