Question

A carpenter used 38ft in three pieces to trim a garage door. if the long piece was 2ft longer than twice the length of each shorter piece then how long was each piece?

answer : the long piece was __ ft long. each shorter piece was __ ft long.

Answer 1

Let s = shorter piece
Let l = longer piece

l = 2s+2

38=l+2s
Substitute 2s+2 for l

38=2s+2+2s

38=4s+2

36=4s

s=9

l=2s+2

l=2(9)+2

l=18+2

l=20

The longer piece was 20 ft. long. Each shorter piece was 9 feet long.