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Problem-Solving and Data AnalysisVery hardArea on a map to real area

Problem-Solving and Data Analysis practice question

On a map with a scale of 1 : 50,000, a lake covers an area of 4 square centimetres. What is the real area of the lake, in square kilometres?

Answer: 1

1 cm on the map is 50,000 cm = 0.5 km. So 1 cm² represents 0.25 km², and 4 cm² represents 1 km².

Common wrong answers

If you answered 2
2 scales the area by the length factor 0.5 instead of its square.
If you answered 200000
200,000 multiplies 4 by 50,000, the length scale, and ignores units.
If you answered 0.25
0.25 is the real area of 1 cm², not 4.

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