If the length and width decrease by a factor of 3, what would be the effect on the area of the square?

So, if the scale factor is three, then the dimensions of the new shape will be three times larger than ... What impact did this have on the perimeter? ... The area of a rectangle is length times width, so it's 5 x 3, which is 15. ... When you're working with scale factors, square the scale factor to determine the area of the new figure.