Question

I don’t understand, please help.

Answer 1

The diagram is showing the length of each line segment.

• NM has length 110 + 4x

• ML has length x + 103 (this is the one you have to find)

• LK has length 70

• NK has length x + 243

The segment NK has length equal to the sum of the lengths of NM, ML, and LK. So we have

x + 243 = (110 + 4x) + (x + 103) + 70

Solve this equation for x :

x + 243 = (110 + 103 + 70) + (4x + x)

x + 243 = 283 + 5x

x - 5x = 283 - 243

-4x = 40

x = 40/(-4)

x = -10

Now solve for x + 103 by adding 103 to this result:

x + 103 = -10 + 103 = 93

So ML has length 93.