If the scale of two maps are (a;1:100,000 and b;1:400,000) what is the ground distance if the distance between two towns on the maps is 10cm

To determine the ground distance between the two towns on the map, we need to use the scale of the map. The scale tells us how many units of distance on the map (in this case, centimeters) correspond to one unit of ground distance (in this case, kilometers). For map a with a scale of 1:100,000, 1 centimeter on the map represents 100,000 centimeters or 1 kilometer on the ground. Therefore, 10 centimeters on the map represents 10 x 1 kilometer = 10 kilometers on the ground. For map b with a scale of 1:400,000, 1 centimeter on the map represents 400,000 centimeters or 4 kilometers on the ground. Therefore, 10 centimeters on the map represents 10 x 4 kilometers = 40 kilometers on the ground. So the correct answer is 10km, 40km.