Crystal cuts a piece of wood into the shape of a triangle. The height of the triangle is 5 inches, and the base of the triangle measures 8 inches. Crystal makes a scale drawing of the triangle. If the height of her scale drawing is 2 inches, what is the area of her scale drawing?
(1 point)
6.4 square inches
3.2 square inches
20 square inches
1.6 square inches
The area of a triangle is calculated using the formula: Area = 0.5 x base x height.
For the original triangle:
Area = 0.5 x 8 x 5 = 20 square inches
Since the height of the scale drawing is 2 inches, the base of the scale drawing will have to be proportional to the original base.
Therefore, the proportion of the bases will be:
8 / 5 = x / 2
x = 3.2
So the base of the scale drawing will be 3.2 inches.
Now we can calculate the area of the scale drawing using the new base and height:
Area = 0.5 x 3.2 x 2 = 3.2 square inches
Therefore, the correct answer is:
3.2 square inches