document.write( "<A HREF=/cgi-bin/jump-to-question.mpl?question=1203278>Question 1203278</A>: <I><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> The total length of the coastlines of Canada, the United States, and Mexico is about 270 000 km. The Canadian coastline is 16 times the average length of the coastlines of the U.S. and Mexico. The U.S. coastline is 10 000 km longer than the Mexican coastline. Find the length of the coastline of each country, in kilometres. </SPAN>\n" );
document.write( "</I><HR><TABLE width=100%><TR><TD><B><A HREF=http://www.algebra.com/>Algebra.Com's</A> Answer #838723 by </B><A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=greenestamps><B>greenestamps(13200)</B></A><img src=\"/images/stars/stars-13.gif\" alt=\"\" >&nbsp;<A HREF=/tutors/aboutme.mpl?userid=greenestamps><IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/images/aboutme-small.gif BORDER=0 alt=\"About Me\" VALIGN=MIDDLE></A>&nbsp;<IMG SRC=http://www.algebra.com/cgi-bin/show-face.mpl?user=greenestamps><BR>You can <A HREF=\"/cgi-bin/embed-solution.mpl?show=1&solution=838723\">put this solution on YOUR website!</A><BR><SPAN STYLE=\"word-break: break-all;\"> <br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "For the moment, let x represent the average length of the American and Mexican coastlines.  Then the total of 270,000 km is composed of<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "Mexico: x<BR>\n" );
document.write( "US: x<BR>\n" );
document.write( "Canada: 16x<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "So the length of the Canadian coastline is 16/18 = 8/9 of the total, which is 8*30,000 = 240,000.<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "That leaves 30,000 km for the combined length of the US and Mexican coastlines.<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "Now use the fact that the US coastline is 10,000 km longer than the Mexican coastline.  Simple mental arithmetic shows that the Mexican coastline is 10,000 km and the US coastline is 20,000 km.<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "Or if you want formal algebra for this part of the problem....<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "x = Mexican coastline<BR>\n" );
document.write( "x+10000 = US coastline<BR>\n" );
document.write( "x+x+10000 = 30000<BR>\n" );
document.write( "2x+10000 = 30000<BR>\n" );
document.write( "2x = 20000<BR>\n" );
document.write( "x = 10000<BR>\n" );
document.write( "Mexico: x = 10000<BR>\n" );
document.write( "US: x+10000 = 20000<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( "ANSWERS:<BR>\n" );
document.write( "Mexico: 10,000 km<BR>\n" );
document.write( "US: 20,000 km<BR>\n" );
document.write( "Canada: 240,000 km<br><BR>\n" );
document.write( " </SPAN>\n" );
document.write( "</TD></TR></TABLE>\n" );