Question

When plotted on a map of 1:50000 scale, a 2 km long dyke exposed on a horizontal surface has a length of ........... cm (answer in one decimal place).

Hint:

When converting real distances to map distances, always divide the actual distance by the scale of the map.

Answer 1

Correct Answer: 4

Step 1: Understanding the scale.
The scale of the map is 1:50000, meaning 1 cm on the map corresponds to 50000 cm (or 500 meters) on the ground. To convert the actual length of the dyke to the map length, we divide the actual length by the scale.

Step 2: Calculation.
The actual length of the dyke is 2 km, which is 2000 meters. The map length is calculated as: \[ \text{Map length} = \frac{2000 \, \text{m}}{500} = 4 \, \text{cm} \]

Step 3: Conclusion.
The length of the dyke on the map is 4.0 cm.