SOLUTION: Hi I need help on this equation, please explain Peter was building a porch. Placing boards of equal length from end to end, Peter found that 4 boards were 3 feet too long for th

Algebra ->  Equations -> SOLUTION: Hi I need help on this equation, please explain Peter was building a porch. Placing boards of equal length from end to end, Peter found that 4 boards were 3 feet too long for th      Log On


   

Question 1047021: Hi I need help on this equation, please explain
Peter was building a porch. Placing boards of equal length from end to end, Peter found that 4 boards were 3 feet too long for the porch length while 3 boards were 5 feet too short. How long was each board?


Found 2 solutions by solver91311, addingup:
Answer by solver91311(24713) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!


Let represent the length of one board. Then is the length of four boards. But four boards are 3 feet too long, so you have to cut off 3 feet to make the length of four boards be the length of the porch. In other words, the length of the porch is . Using similar analysis, the length of the porch is also . So, since the length of the porch is the length of the porch, we can say:



Solve for to find the length of one board.

John

My calculator said it, I believe it, that settles it

Answer by addingup(3677) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let the length of the boards be x.
4x-3 = 3x+5 subtract 3x and add 3 on both sides:
x = 8 ft.