Question

A wire 15 cm long is cut into two pieces. The longer piece is 3.cmidonger than the shorter piece.Find the length of the shorter piece of wirecm

Answer 1

A piece of wire is cut into two pieces. That means each part would be assigned an unknown variable. Let one part be x and the other part be y.

That means,

If the longer part is x, and the longer part is 3cm longer than the shorter part, then we would have the following;

`\begin{gathered} x+y=15 \\ x=y+3 \\ \text{This is because x is 3cm longer,} \\ So\text{ the length of x would be y+3} \end{gathered}`

We can now refine the equation as follow;

`\begin{gathered} \text{Where;} \\ x=y+3 \\ x+y=15 \\ y+3+y=15 \\ 2y+3=15 \\ \text{Subtract 3 from both sides;} \\ 2y+3-3=15-3 \\ 2y=12 \\ \text{Divide both sides by 2;} \\ (2y)/(2)=(12)/(2) \\ y=6 \\ \text{When;} \\ x+y=15 \\ x+6=15 \\ \text{Subtract 6 from both sides;} \\ x+6-6=15-6 \\ x=9 \end{gathered}`

ANSWER:

The length of the shorter piece of wire is 6cm