Question

A ​108-inch is cut into two pieces. One piece is three times the length of the other. Find the length of the shorter piece.

Answer 1

Answer: Short piece is 27 inches

Long piece is 81 inches

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Explanation:

x = length of short piece

3x = length of the longer piece (3 times longer)

x+3x = 4x = total length

total length = 108

So 4x = 108 is the equation which solves to x = 27 after dividing both sides by 4.

The short piece is x = 27 inches and the long piece is 3*x = 3*27 = 81 inches. Adding the two pieces gives 27+81 = 108 which helps confirm the answer.