A rectangle has an area of 20cm^2. Its length and width are each enlarged by scale factor 3. What is the area of the enlarged rectangle?

For questions regarding enlargements of shapes, it's sometimes easier to consider one dimension at a time. So for this example, let's first consider what the area of the rectangle would be if we just enlarged the length by a scale factor of 3. We can do this by multiplying the area by 3:

20cm^2 * 3 = 60cm^2

Now, let's consider enlarging the width of this rectangle by a scale factor of 3:

60cm^2 * 3 = 180cm^2

Notice that we end up multiplying the area of the rectangle by 3^2. The 3 is the scale factor that we're asked to enlarge by, and the 2 is the number of dimensions that we are enlarging the shape in.

Answered by Sophie W. Maths tutor

8278 Views

See similar Maths GCSE tutors

Related Maths GCSE answers

All answers ▸

Find the equation of the straight line passing trough the points (-2,1 ) and (1, 4).


Prove that the difference between the squares of any two consecutive integers is equal to the sum of these two integers.


Using the quadratic formula find the solutions for x^2+x-6


There are 5 cards in order from smallest to largest, _ _ _ _ 8. The range is 6, the median is 6, the mode is 2, and the mean is 5. Find the numbers missing on the 4 blank cards.


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo
Cookie Preferences