Use the image to answer the question.
An illustration shows two rectangles. The first is horizontally positioned lengthwise and the second is positioned slanting lengthwise to the left. The first rectangle has a base length of 5 inches and vertical width of 3 inches. The tilted second rectangle has a length of 9 inches and a width of 5.4 inches.
What scale factor was used to enlarge the rectangle in the image? The measurements refer to inches. Give your answer as a decimal.
To find the scale factor, we can compare the corresponding lengths or widths of the two rectangles.
The original rectangle has a base length of 5 inches, and the enlarged rectangle has a length of 9 inches. Therefore, the scale factor for the length is 9/5 = 1.8.
The original rectangle has a vertical width of 3 inches, and the enlarged rectangle has a width of 5.4 inches. Therefore, the scale factor for the width is 5.4/3 = 1.8.
Since the scale factors for the length and width are both 1.8, we can conclude that the scale factor used to enlarge the rectangle in the image is 1.8.