About this video
A map has a scale of 7 centimeters for every 10 kilometers. Two cities 60 km apart are 6 times 10 km apart, so on the map they are 6 times 7 cm, which is 42 cm.
You'll be able to
- read a map scale such as 7 cm for 10 km.
- use a map scale to find a map distance from a real distance.
Key words
- map scale
- A rule that tells how a distance on a map matches a real distance, like 7 cm for 10 km.
- actual distance
- The real distance between two places in the world.
Transcript
The scale on a map is 7 centimeters for every 10 kilometers, or 7 centimeters for 10 kilometers. If the distance between two cities is 60 kilometers-- so that's the actual distance-- how far apart in centimeters are the two cities on the map? Well, they give us the scale.
For every 10 kilometers in the real world, the map is going to show 7 centimeters. Or another way to think about it is if you see 7 centimeters on the map, that represents 10 kilometers in the real world. Now, they're saying that the distance between two cities is 60 kilometers.
So it's essentially 6 times 10 kilometers, so times 6. So if you have to 6 times 10 kilometers on the map, you're going to have 6 times 7 centimeters, so times 6. And 6 times 7 centimeters gets you to 42 centimeters. So how far apart in centimeters are the two cities on the map?
Well, 42 centimeters.
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