Читать книгу Geography For Dummies - Jerry T. Mitchell - Страница 100

A verbal scale (also called statement of scale) communicates the relationship between map distance and real-world distance in a sentence or sentence-like format. In Figure 5-1, “One inch equals one mile” is the example. (By the way, if you want to know why a mile is a mile, see the nearby sidebar “Whence comes the mile?”)

As far as most people are concerned, the verbal scale is particularly convenient for measuring distances on a map, provided a ruler is available. In the case of “one inch equals one mile,” one need only measure the number of inches between two points to arrive at the number of miles that separate them on Earth. If, on the other hand, the verbal scale on another map reads “one inch equals 20 miles,” then the number of inches between the two points on the map needs to be multiplied by 20 to render the actual distance.

Maps come in different scales. Thus, the scale you use to calculate distance on one map may not be the same for the next map. Always check the scale before you calculate distance.