Question

the trail of tears refers to the pathways traveled by native americans between about 1830 and 1850 when they were forced by the u.s. government to move from ancestral homelands in the southeast to newly designated \indian country\ west of the mississippi river. the map shows routes taken by an estimated 16,000 cherokees after their forced removal in 1838. an estimated 4000 died as they traveled overland, on foot, in wagons, and by boat. using the map scale, estimate the length of the land route (green line) between chattanooga and evansville. is this estimate likely to be less than or greater than the actual length of the route?
click the icon to view the map of the trail of tears.

the distance is approximately □ miles. this distance is likely to be □ the actual length of the route.

trail of tears map map with scale 50 mi

Explanation:

Step1: Determine the map scale

The map scale is 50 miles for the given bar length.

Step2: Measure the distance on the map

Using a ruler (or by eye estimation), the length of the green line (land route) between Chattanooga and Evansville on the map is approximately 3 times the length of the 50 - mile scale bar.

Step3: Calculate the estimated distance

If the scale bar is 50 miles and the measured length is 3 times the scale bar, then the estimated distance \(d = 50\times3=150\) miles. (Note: The actual estimation may vary slightly depending on the precision of the measurement, but a common estimation here is around 150 miles. Also, when we measure the straight - line distance on the map, the actual route is likely to be longer because roads are not straight, so the estimated distance (using straight - line on map) is less than the actual length.)

Answer:

The distance is approximately \(\boldsymbol{150}\) miles. This distance is likely to be \(\boldsymbol{\text{less than}}\) the actual length of the route.