Question

a 17 foot piece of string is cut into two pieces so that the longer piece is 5 feet longer than twice the shorter piece. If the shorter piece is x feet long,find the length of both pieces.

Answer 1

Long piece = 5+ 2•short piece
Long piece +short piece=17

Let short piece be x and long piece y

Rewrite the relations given
y= 5+2• x
y+x=17 so y=17- x

5+2•x=17-x
2x+x=17-5
3x=12
X=12/3=4 (short piece) feet
y=17-4=13 (long piece) feet