document.write( "Question 940841: Vivian measured a house and its lot and made a scale drawing. The porch, which is 16 feet wide in real life, is 4 inches wide in the drawing. What scale did Vivian use for the drawing? \n" ); document.write( "

Algebra.Com's Answer #573461 by macston(5194) $\"\"$ $\"About$

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AL=Actual Length=16 feet
\n" ); document.write( "DL=Drawn Length=4 inches
\n" ); document.write( "Scale=AL/DL (units must have same dimension, i.e. feet and feet, not feet and inches)
\n" ); document.write( "First change DL units to feet:
\n" ); document.write( " $\"DL=4+inches%281+foot%2F12+inches%29\"$ Note numerator and denominator of conversion factor are equivalent, so we are multiplying by 1, which does not change the value.
\n" ); document.write( " $\"DL=4+foot%2F12\"$ Divide out the inches
\n" ); document.write( " $\"DL=1%2F3+foot\"$ Simplify
\n" ); document.write( "Scale =AL/DL=16 feet/1/3 foot=48 Note: Scale has no units
\n" ); document.write( "ANSWER Vivian's drawing scale is 48:1
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