Map Scale
📚 What You'll Learn
- What a map scale is: the ratio between map distance and real-world distance
- Setting up proportions using the scale factor
- Multiplying to find the scaled distance on a model
- Converting real-world distances to scale model measurements
In this video, we're going to be using a map scale, which is simply the ratio between the distance on a map and the real world distance to create a scale model.
In this example, I'm going to need to represent the distance between two cities, Chicago, and Pittsburgh using the scale factor, one-sixth inches is to one mile.
In reality, these two cities are 450 miles apart. Using the map scale, let's determine how many inches apart they should be on the scale model.
One-sixth inches is to one mile as how many inches is to 450 miles.
Well, when I move from one mile, to 450 miles, the miles are getting 450 times bigger. So I must also multiply inches by 450.
One-sixth times 450 equals 450 sixths. Which is 75 as a whole number and that's the distance apart the city should be in the scale model.