Question

A student needs three pieces of wore for a project. The second piece must be 3 times as long as the first one. The third piece must be twice as long as the second. The student has 350 inches of wire to make the three pieces. Ley x be the length of the first piece of wire.

Answer 1

Answer: the length of the first piece is 35 inches.

the length of the second piece is 105 inches.

the length of the third piece is 210 inches.

Explanation:

Let x represent the length of the first piece.

Let y represent the length of the second piece.

Let z represent the length of the third piece.

The second piece must be 3 times as long as the first one. This means that

y = 3x

x = y/3

The third piece must be twice as long as the second. This means that

z = 2y

The student has 350 inches of wire to make the three pieces. This means that

y/3 + y + 2y = 350

Cross multiplying by 3, it becomes

y + 3y + 6y = 1050

10y = 1050

y = 1050/10

y = 105

x = y/3 = 105/3

x = 35

z = 2y = 2 × 105

z = 210