A DILATION with center D and SCALE FACTOR k is a transformation that maps every point A in the plane to a point A' so that the follwoing properties are true:[br]1) If A is not the center point D, then the image A' lies on ray DA. The scale factor K is a positive number such that k = ( DA' / DA ), and k ≠1.[br][br]2) If A is the center point, the A = A'.[br][br][br][br]The dilation is a REDUCTION if 0 < k < 1 and it is an ENLARGEMENT if k> 1.

Move k along the slider to observe how the scale factor changes the image of the transformation. [br][br]Try to conclude how the scale factor relates the length of the preimage (a, b, and c) to the lengths of the image (j, l, and m).