Solid A is similar to Solid B. Find the scale factor of Solid A to Solid B

Question

Solid A is= 208m^2. Solid B is = 52m^2

Answer 1

Hi Emmanuel U.,

Scale Factor, by definition, is a linear-dimension proportion.

What you have been given has units of m^2, therefore it is a surface area (surface area of *what* does not matter!) Surface area scales as the square of the linear dimension (you should know that; and also that volume scales as the cube of the linear dimension). Therefore, take the proportion of the squares: 208:52 = 4, and figure the square root of that = 2. THAT value is what you quote as Scale Factor.

-- Cheers, -- Mr. d.