<span>Let's first establish "x" for the first piece of steel. The second one is going to be "2x" and the 3rd piece will be 5x+1. Now we can set ou the equation as: x+2x+5x+1=25 Combine like terms to get: 8x+1=25 Now subtract 1 from both sides to result in:
</span><span>8x=24 Divide 8 into both sides to get: x=3 inches for the first one. I'll let you figure the lengths of the other 2 pieces.</span><span>