Emily drew a scale drawing to represent her bedroom. The drawing is rectangular, with longer sides measuring 42.5 centimeters and shorter sides measuring 35.5 centimeters. Emily decides she wants the drawing to be smaller, so she will reduce it by a scale factor of \( \frac{1}{2} \). What will be the measure of the shorter sides?

A. 17.75 centimeters
B. 21.25 centimeters
C. 35.5 centimeters
D. 42.5 centimeters

When Emily reduces the scale drawing of her bedroom by a scale factor of 1/2, the shorter sides will measure 17.75 centimeters, hence answer a) 17.75 centimeters is correct.

Emily has a scale drawing of her bedroom with the shorter sides measuring 35.5 centimeters. She wants to reduce the size of the drawing by a scale factor of 1/2. To find the new measurement of the shorter sides after the reduction, we multiply the original length by the scale factor.

Calculation: 35.5 cm imes 1/2 = 17.75 cm.

Therefore, the measure of the shorter sides after reducing the drawing by a scale factor of 1/2 will be 17.75 centimeters (Option a).