Question

Ken has a pole that is 26 inches long. He wishes to cut it into two pieces so that one piece will be 8 inches longer than the other. How long must the shorter piece be?

Answer 1

9 inches

Explanation:

Do the question algebraically, represented by this equation:

let x be the shorter piece

x + (x + 8) = 26 (longer piece is 8 units longer)

Remove brackets

x + x + 8 = 26 Combine like terms

2x + 8 = 26 Start isolating "x"

2x + 8 - 8 = 26 - 8 Subtract 8 from both sides

2x = 18

2x/2 = 18/2 Divide both sides by 2

x = 9 shorter piece

The shorter piece would be 9 inches.

If you needed the longer piece too:

longer piece = x + 8

x + 8

= 9 + 8

= 17

The longer piece would be 17 inches.

Check your answer:

Longer + Shorter = 26 Substitute the lengths

17 + 9 = 26 Add

26 = 26 same number

LS = RS left side equals right side

The answer is correct.