On a map, 1 inch equals 5 miles. If two cities are 9 inches apart on the map, how far are they actually apart?

Answer 1

Passiana ...

Let me extend the response that was previously provided by Arturo to highlight the extremely important math concepts that are involved with being able to answer this question. The question that you asked is such a great question! Thank you! This question will help many students understand these important concepts.

To understand how to respond to this question, students need to understand mathematics concepts including "ratios" and "rates."

A ratio is a comparison of two numbers a and b. Suppose that we have the numbers 1 and 6. A ratio involving these two numbers would be 1/6. In probability, this ratio would be used to determine the chance of acquiring 5 as an outcome of tossing a fair die.When you toss a die, you can acquire as outcomes a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. Since there is only 1 way to get a 5 out of 6 possible outcomes, the probability of acquiring a 5 would be 1/6. We can represent this ratio as 1/6, 1:6 or verbally as "1 to 6."

A rate is a ratio that has units associated with it. Some examples of rate include speed (5 miles / hour), cost of salami ($ 9.99 / pound), acceleration (5 meters / second-squared), etc. Within your question, you provided a great example of a rate. 1 inch on a map equals 5 miles. If you think of this as a rate, we would have 1 inch / 5 miles or equivalently 5 miles / 1 inch. You have a ratio with units associated with it. For every inch that you move on a map, you have actually moved 5 miles in the region viewed on the map.

Wow! Look at all the great mathematics that we have discussed thus far!

Ok ... Let us now address your specific question ...

So for two cities 9 inches apart on a map, we would need to actually move 9 (5) miles or 45 miles in the region viewed on the map. Moving from one city to another city on the map is only 9 inches. If we were physically walking in this geographical region, we would need to walk 45 miles.

Thanks again for the great question!

So much beautiful mathematics! What is also really important is that this is practical mathematics! This result would be very important to understand if you were actually traveling in this area.

Please let me know if you need further clarification.

Until the next great math question!

Answer 2

Multiply the number of inches by 5. That will give the miles.