Week 4: Scales, Maps and Units

What does it mean for an image or diagram to be "to scale"?

Which of the following correctly describes a 1:600 scale?

• Each 1 cm on the image represents 600 cm in real life.
• Each 1 cm on the image represents 6 cm in real life.
• Each 1 cm on the image represents 60 cm in real life.
• Each 1 cm on the image represents 60 meters in real life.

If a map has a scale of 1 cm = 5 km, how many kilometers does 3 cm on the map represent?

You are given a map with the scale 1:500. If the distance between two points on the map is measured as 9 cm, what is the real-life distance between these points?

• 45 meters
• 500 meters
• 4,500 centimeters
• 90 kilometers

A garden scale drawing uses a scale of 1 cm = 0.5 meters. If the length of the garden on the drawing is 8 cm, what is the real length of the garden in meters?

A scale diagram and a scale drawing are always the same thing.

• True
• False

A patio is drawn as a scale diagram where each 1 cm represents 0.5 meters. The patio on the diagram measures 8 cm by 6 cm. What is the real-life area of the patio?

• 48 square meters
• 12 square meters
• 24 square meters
• 36 square meters

A map scale is given as 1 cm = 6 km. If the distance between two towns is 18 km in real life, what would be the distance between them on the map?

Jennifer's pond measures 1 meter by 1 meter in real life. If the scale of her garden drawing is 1 cm = 0.5 meters, how large should the pond be on the scale drawing?

• 1 cm by 1 cm
• 2 cm by 2 cm
• 0.5 cm by 0.5 cm
• 4 cm by 4 cm

A map uses a linear scale where every 2.5 cm represents 20 kilometers. What is the scale ratio for this map? (Hint: Convert the real distance into the same units as the map distance.)