Q:

Describe how to solve problems for the area of a reduced or enlarged figure when the scale factor and dimensions of the original figure are given.

Accepted Solution

A:
We are going to define the following variables:
 A: Area of the original figure.
 k: scale factor.
We have that the area of the new figure (reduced or enlarged, depends on the value of k) is:
 A '= k ^ 2 * A
 Example: rectangle of dimensions (2) * (3) A factor of k = 2 is extended. Find the new area.
 The original area is:
 A = (2) * (3) = 6
 The new area will be:
 A '= (2 * 2) * (2 * 3) = 4 * 6 = 24
 Or equivalently:
 A '= k ^ 2 * A
 A '= (2) ^ 2 * (6) = 4 * 6 = 24