Question

lacey made a scale drawing of the middle school. the scale of the drawing was 5 inches : 2 feet. if the gym is 170 inches wide in the drawing, how wide is the actual gym?

Explanation:

Step1: Convert feet to inches

Since 1 foot = 12 inches, 2 feet = 2×12 = 24 inches. The scale is 5 inches : 24 inches, which simplifies to 5:24.

Step2: Set up proportion

Let $x$ be the actual width of the gym. The proportion is $\frac{5}{24}=\frac{170}{x}$.

Step3: Cross - multiply

$5x=170\times24$.

Step4: Solve for $x$

$x=\frac{170\times24}{5}=170\times\frac{24}{5}=170\times4.8 = 816$ inches.

Step5: Convert inches to feet

Since 1 foot = 12 inches, $\frac{816}{12}=68$ feet.

Answer:

68 feet