Scale Factor

My Definition

Key Characteristics

The following are true of a scale factor:

  • It is a multiplier.

  • It proportionally increases or decreases something that is measured.

Example

It takes three cups of flour to bake a cake. How many cups of flour will it take to make seven cakes?


7 x 3 = 21


Seven is the scale factor. It increases the quantity of three cups of flour by a factor of seven.


Non-example

I used 21 cups of flour to make seven identical cakes. How many cups of flour did I use for each cake?


21 ÷ 7 = 3


This is a division problem where the seven represents the divisor.



TEKS: 3(4)(D), 6(5)(A), 7(5)(C), 8(3)(C)