Why A scale factor of 1/2 reduces a figure
A scale factor of 1/2 reduces a figure because it decreases the size of the figure by dividing each dimension by 2.
For example, if you have a square with side length 4 units and you apply a scale factor of 1/2, each side of the square will be divided by 2, resulting in a new square with side length 2 units. The area of the original square was 16 units squared (4 units * 4 units), but the area of the reduced square is only 4 units squared (2 units * 2 units).
Similarly, if you have a triangle with a base of 8 units and a height of 6 units, applying a scale factor of 1/2 would divide both the base and the height by 2, resulting in a new triangle with a base of 4 units and a height of 3 units. The original triangle had an area of 24 units squared (8 units * 6 units / 2), but the reduced triangle has an area of only 6 units squared (4 units * 3 units / 2).
In general, multiplying each dimension of a figure by a scale factor greater than 1 will enlarge the figure, while multiplying each dimension by a scale factor between 0 and 1 will reduce the figure.