1inch equals 5miles and map b 1inch equals 2miles?

Answer 1

Simple, you're dealing with two diferently scaled maps.

Topographic maps are drawn to scale. This means that distances on a map are proportional to distances on the ground. For example, if two cities 20 miles apart are shown 4 inches apart on a map, then any other locations that are 4 inches apart on the map are also 20 miles apart. This proportion, the map scale, is constant for the map so it holds for any points on the map. In this example the proportion between equivalent distances on the map and on the ground is expressed as a scale of 1 inch = 5 miles, that is 1 inch on the map is equal to 5 miles on the ground.

The simplest form of map scale is a VERBAL SCALE. A verbal scale just states what distance on a map is equal to what distance on the ground, i.e. 1 inch = 5 miles from the example above. Though verbal scales are easy to understand, you usually will not find them printed on topographic maps. Other types of scale used are the fractional scale and the bar scale.

In the case of your question, 1in = 5miles equates roughly to a fractional scale of 1:312,500 and 1in = 2miles equates roughly to a fractional scale of 1:125,000