Question

Representative fractions can be calculated by _____________.
A) Distance of map divided by distance on the ground in the same unit.
B) Distance of map divided by distance on the ground in different units.
C) Distance on the ground divided by the distance of map in the same unit.
D) Distance of map multiplied by distance on the ground.

Answer 1

Hint: The relationship between a distance on a globe and the equivalent distance on the earth is known as a map scale. The size of a map can be represented graphically as a bar scale or as an equivalence, typically by different units. Each feature appears greater on large scale maps, which depict a smaller geographic region. Each feature appears smaller on small scale maps, which depict a greater geographic region.

Complete answer:
The representative fraction can be determined by dividing the map distance by the land distance in the same unit. A map's scale is expressed as a numerical fraction that compares linear distances on the map to equivalent real distances on the land, measured in the same units (centimetres, inches, feet).
The numerator and denominator of a representative fraction should have the same unit of measurement of distance. The ratio of distance on the map to distance on the field is known as a representative fraction (RF).

Representative fractions are written as 1 followed by a : (colon) and then a number, where the first number is the fraction's numerator, the colon indicates the division operation, and the second number is the fraction's denominator. As a result, a dimension of 1:24,000 can be mathematically interpreted as 1 divided by 24,000. In fact, the RF is often defined on maps by a division symbol.

Hence, the correct option is (A) Distance of map divided by distance on the ground in the same unit.

Note: The nominal scale or representative fraction is the ratio of the Earth's dimension to that of the producing globe. The only drawback of the R.F. scale is that since it is expressed in fraction form, it cannot measure the exact distance.