Question

A pen, a marker and pencil have a total length of 48cm. The pen is 1cm shorter than the marker which is 1cm shorter than the pencil. Calculate the length of each

Answer 1

Let P = pencil length, M = marker length and Pn = pen length.

We know that the sum of these lengths is 48 cm so:

P + Pn + M = 48 (Equation 1)

Now we need to use the relationships of the lengths to find 2 more equations:

Pn = M - 1 (Equation 2)
M = P - 1 (Equation 3)

Now, sub Equations 2 and 3 into the first equation and solve for the value of P, which is 17.

Next, use the value of P to find your M value and then finally use that M value to get your Pn value.

The final answer is: pencil length = 17cm, marker length = 16cm and pen length = 15cm.