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?

1 Answer
Apr 4, 2015

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