In order to be able to draw objects on paper that in reality are not very “convenient” in size, people have come up with a scale. Strictly speaking, this explains why scale is needed.
When the school curriculum begins to reveal the concept of scale
For the first time, children come across this word while studying maps and plans of the area. The teacher explains what the scale is for, what he shows with the example of atlases. It is explained that any geographical object is so large that its image in full size will be difficult and inconvenient.
People painted the area in a reduced form, but for this they did not use any exact ratios. Now this is being made more reasonable - each dash and line shown on the map have a size that can be multiplied by a certain number and find out the true length and width.
Writing a Scale: The First Way to Read
The scale is indicated by two numbers, written through a colon. The first digit indicates the units of dimension in the figure, the second indicates how many real units in the figure correspond to the first number. For example, if on some plane the scale is 1: 1000, and the units are indicated in centimeters, then one centimeter in the figure corresponds to 1000 cm in reality. It turns out, what is the scale for? With its help, you can not only reduce certain objects on the graphic plane, but also accurately calculate their actual size.
The second way to record the scale: what is convenient?
The previous way to write a scale through a colon is called numerical. But there is also a named scale. His record is as follows: 1 cm - 20 km. It turns out that in this way it is possible to compactly write down huge scales that will not be expressed by numbers with several zeros if there is a situation when it is necessary to indicate several hundred kilometers in one centimeter. At the same time, it is immediately clear how much, what and in what. Such a record is more intuitive and intuitive.
Scaling in drawing: what complements the previously studied concept
The concept of scale is encountered not only in geography, but also in the study of such a subject as drawing. The same principles are used to represent various objects. But there is a significant difference: here the concept of why scale is needed is also expanded by the fact that with its help it is possible to depict small details in larger sizes. In geography this is not discussed, because there are no such small objects in geography that there was a need to increase them. In any case, continents and mountains, rivers and lakes are larger than sheets of A4 or even A1 paper.
When you study drawing, you can use the scale to depict the smallest details in a larger form, such as a bolt or screw.
So why do you need scale in this case? With its help, you can more conveniently, clearly and in detail depict a small element. In this case, the opposite happens in the record: the first number will be larger than the second, and a 100: 1 record will sound something like this: 100 metric units of the image corresponds to one unit of actual size.
A few clarifying examples
Why do we need scale, what does it show in the case of the image of a smaller object, which is obtained as a result on paper? Again, we have the exact aspect ratio of the image of the part and the real object. Recall the same scale of 100: 1. It turns out that in a hundred millimeters in the figure there is only one millimeter of real size. If the width of a part is 500 millimeters in the figure, its real width is only 5 millimeters.
If we recall the first case, the image on the sheet of a smaller copy of a large object, a scale of 1: 100 will mean that one millimeter in the figure contains 100 millimeters of true size. Total, if the length of an object is 80 millimeters in a drawing or map, in reality the length of the object will be 8000 millimeters. A good example of why scale is needed and what a convenient invention of mankind is.
The main thing in using scale is to immediately remember that the first number refers to the image, and the second refers to the actual size of the objects. In order not to get confused in the future, to consolidate these foundations, schools conduct practical classes in geography, so that children explain and calculate the sizes of real objects several times using the atlas. The same thing happens in drawing lessons.
To summarize
What is scale for? The answer to this question consists of three points that you just need to remember:
- First, the scale is needed to display large objects on a convenient viewing surface.
- The second - the scale is needed in order to depict small objects in a larger size.
- Third, the scale is needed in order to be able to accurately determine the size of a real object, regardless of its initial size, small or large.