The two equilateral triangles below are similar (but not drawn to scale). What is the scale factor? Click Here for Help Video

31.85 inches


49 inches


The scale factor to go from the triangle on the right to the triangle on the left is
.

1 answer

To find the scale factor between the two similar triangles, you can divide the length of a side of the first triangle by the length of the corresponding side of the second triangle.

Let's denote the length of a side of the triangle on the right as \( a = 49 \) inches and the length of a side of the triangle on the left as \( b = 31.85 \) inches.

The scale factor (k) from the triangle on the right to the triangle on the left can be calculated as follows:

\[ k = \frac{b}{a} = \frac{31.85}{49} \]

Calculating this gives:

\[ k \approx 0.649 \]

Thus, the scale factor to go from the triangle on the right to the triangle on the left is approximately 0.649.