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Map scale calculator

What do you know?
Map scale

Real distance at 1 : 25,000

1.6 km

6.4 cm on the map is 1,600 m, or 1.6 km, on the ground.

1 cm on the map
250 m
Metres
1,600

Working

  1. At 1 : 25,000, 1 cm on the map is 25,000 cm, or 250 m, on the ground.
  2. Real distance = map distance × scale = 6.4 cm × 25,000 = 160,000 cm.
  3. Divide by 100 for metres: 1,600 m. Divide by 100,000 for kilometres: 1.6 km.

Your result

1.6 km. 6.4 cm on the map is 1,600 m, or 1.6 km, on the ground.

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On a 1 : 25 000 map, 1 cm stands for 250 m on the ground, so 6.4 cm on the map is 1.6 km; on a 1 : 50 000 map, 1 cm is 500 m.

Questions people ask

How do you work out real distance from a map?

Measure the distance on the map in centimetres, multiply by the second number of the scale to get centimetres on the ground, then divide by 100 for metres or 100,000 for kilometres. On a 1:25 000 map, 6.4 cm is 6.4 × 25,000 = 160,000 cm, or 1.6 km.

What does 1:50 000 mean?

One unit on the map stands for 50,000 of the same unit on the ground. So 1 cm on the map is 50,000 cm, which is 500 m, and 2 cm on the map is 1 km.

How do you measure a curved distance such as a river?

Lay a piece of string or the straight edge of a sheet of paper along the route, marking each bend, then straighten it against a ruler or the map's scale bar and convert as normal.

Which map shows more detail, 1:25 000 or 1:50 000?

1:25 000. Each centimetre covers less ground (250 m instead of 500 m), so the map has room for more features, such as field boundaries and footpaths.

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How we work this out

What it does

Turn a distance measured on a 1:25 000, 1:50 000 or any other map into a real distance, or work back from a real distance, with the working.

Distances on any map with a 1 : n scale, including the 1 : 25 000 and 1 : 50 000 Ordnance Survey maps used in GCSE Geography.

Method

  1. Real distance = map distance × n, in the same unit.
  2. Centimetres are turned into metres by dividing by 100 and into kilometres by dividing by 100,000.
  3. Working back: map distance = real distance in centimetres ÷ n.