A model of a rectangular table for a dollhouse is 13 inches long and 8 inches wide. Then original table is 52 inches and 32 inches wide.

Question

A model of a redtangular table for a dollhouse is 13 inches long and 8 inches wide. Then original table is 52 inches and 32 inches wide. Are the model table and the original table similar figures?

Answer 1

The key to finding if two shapes are similar, is figuring out if all their dimensions have the same ratio.

 

How many times longer is the original table from the model? Well, we have to find the ratio of these two lengths: 

 

52/13 is 4. The original table is 4 times longer than the model.

 

How about the width?

 

32/8 is also 4. The original table is 4 times wider than the model, too!

 

So, both the length and width of the original table to the length and width of the model have the same ratio: 4. Therefore, you can say the two figures are similar. I hope that clears things up.