Question

The scale of a map is 1 inch : 85 miles. On the map, a river is 14 inches long. Find the actual length of the river in miles

Answer 1

We have been given that the scale of a map is 1 inch : 85 miles. On the map, a river is 14 inches long. We are asked to find the actual length of the river in miles.

We will use proportions to solve our given problem.

`\frac{\text{Actual length}}{\text{Map length}}=\frac{85\text{ miles}}{\text{1 inch}}`

Upon substituting map length of river in above equation, we will get:

`\frac{\text{Actual length}}{\text{14 inches}}=\frac{85\text{ miles}}{\text{1 inch}}`

`\frac{\text{Actual length}}{\text{14 inches}}* \text{14 inches}=\frac{85\text{ miles}}{\text{1 inch}}* \text{14 inches}`

`\text{Actual length}=85\text{ miles}* 14`

`\text{Actual length}=1190\text{ miles}`

Therefore, the actual length of river is 1190 miles.