Answer:
34.4 cm
Step-by-step explanation:
The scale of the map is 1:500000
This means 1 cm in the map is equivalent to 500000 cm in actual.
So, first we need to convert the distance between the 2 towns in centimeters.
The distance between two towns is 172 km
172 km = 172 x 1000 meters = 172,000 meters
172,000 meters = 172,000 x 100 cm = 17,200,000 cm
500,000 cm in actual on the map = 1 cm
1 cm in actual on the map = [tex]\frac{1}{500000}[/tex] cm
17,200,000 cm in actual on the map will be = [tex]\frac{1}{500000} \times 17200000 = 34.4[/tex] cm
Thus, 172 km actual distance would be represented by 34.4 cm on the map
