Question

In the sketch, the height of Whisler's mother was 10 inches and the width of her gown was 8 1/3 inches. In the actual painting, the height of his mother was 50 inches. How would I find the width of her gown?

Answer 1

The answer is: `41 2/3`

If his mother's height was `5` times longer than the sketch, then the width of her gown should be `5` times wider too.

Lets say the width of the gown is `k` inches.

Everything should be scaled with the same proportions so:

`10/50 = (8+1/3)/k`

`1/5 = (8+1/3)/k`

`k=5*(8+1/3) = 40+5/3=40+(1+2/3)`

`k=41+2/3` inches