Answer:
THE ANSWER IS THREE sorry cap lock
Step-by-step explanation:
Answer:
12 pieces each:


Step-by-step explanation:
Given
-- first string
--- second string
Required
Determine the number of equal pieces
To do this, we first calculate the HCF of the length of both pieces 



The HCF is:


<em>Hence, he can cut both strings to 12 pieces each</em>
<em></em>
<em>Recall that </em>
<em>The first string can then be cut in to 3 inches each (i.e. 36/12)</em>
<em>The first string can then be cut in to 4 inches each (i.e. 48/12)</em>
20 - k/15 = 17
20 - 17 = k/15
3 = k/15
k = 45