Question

A wire, 224 cm long, is cut into 3 pieces. The first is twice as long as the second. The third is one-half as long as the second. How long is the second piece?

Answer 1

x = 1st piece, y = 2nd piece, z = 3rd piece

x + y + z = 224
x = 2y
z = 1/2y

2y + y + 1/2y = 224
3.5y = 224
y = 224/3.5
y = 64 cm<== 2nd piece

x = 2y
x = 2(64)
x = 128 cm...1st piece

z = 1/2y
z = 1/2(64)
z = 64/2
z = 32 cm....3rd piece

Answer 2

first=2x
third=x/2
x+2x+(x/2)=5x/2
7x/2=224
multiply by 2
(7x/2)*2=224*2
5x=448
x=64
x=64 cm the second part
first part =2x=64*z=128 cm
third part=x/2=64/2=32 cm