If you want to know the distance between 2 points on the 2D map you have to zoom in some. The way you are doing it is incorrect.
I tried to look this method up and could find nothing. Would you be able to provide a link or possibly demonstrate?
When zooming in on Alaska so that all of Alaska is visible on Google Maps the scale is about 50 miles per centimeter.
If you drag that view down to say Texas the legend changes to about 100 miles per centimeter.
Do I really need to take screenshots of this?