You want to draw an enlargement of a design that is painted on a 4 in. by 5 in. You will be drawing this design on a piece of paper that is 8 1/2 in. by 11 in. What are the dimensions of the largest complete enlargement you can make?

Question

A. 1 3/5 in by 10 5/8 in
B. 1 3/8 in by 3/5 in
C. 8 1/2 in by 4 3/8 in
D. 8 1/2 in by 10 5/8 in

I don't understand. I tried cross multiplying:

w/4 = 11/5
5w = 44
w = 8.8

But that answer converted to fractions is 8 4/5, so there's no point there.

8.5/4 = w/5
5(8.5) = 4w
425 = 4w
106.25 = w

... I don't need to convert that to fractions to know that's not right!

I really don't understand this question, and if anyone could give me the answer (if I have the answer, I can usually figure it out on my own, but if if you don't mind step-by-step that'd welcome!), I'd GREATLY appreciate it! :)

Answer 1

a 4x5 card does not have the same aspect ratio as the 8.5x11 paper

enlarging 4 to 8.5 is a scale of 2.125
enlarging 5 to 11 is a scale of 2.2

So, using the smaller scale, 4x5 enlarges to 8.5x10.625

or, 8 1/2 by 10 5/8

trying to enlarge it more will cause the width to exceed the paper size.

Answer 2

Really? How did you get that answer? @Steve

Answer 3

um, what in the above solution, did you not understand?

Answer 4

How did you get 8.5x10.625?

Answer 5

Wait! Oh my goodness, I'm sorry! I totally get it now! XD THANK YOU SO MUCH! ^.^ You are a lifesaver. :)