Question

A board 60 in long is cut into two parts so that the longer piece is 5 times the shorter. What are the two lengths of the two pieces ?

The shorter piece is _____ a° in
the longer piece is _____a° in

Answer 1

The equation has to equal 60 because that is how long the board is. To represent the shorter piece you have to use a variable(x). For the larger 5x because your multiplying it.

Your equation then is 5x+x=60

x=10 (shorter side) 50 inches is the longer side