A dilation is considered a reduction when the scale factor is less than 1. In simple terms, the scale factor indicates how much the figure is enlarged or reduced in size. When the scale factor is greater than 1, the figure enlarges, whereas a scale factor of exactly 1 means there is no change in size.
To illustrate, if you have a scale factor of 0.5, this means that the dimensions of the original figure are being multiplied by 0.5, resulting in a figure that is half the size of the original. Conversely, a scale factor of 2 would double the size of the figure.
In summary, to determine if a dilation is a reduction, simply check if the scale factor is between 0 and 1. If it is, the figure will shrink; if it’s equal to or greater than 1, the figure will either remain the same or grow larger.