SOLUTION: Yuri has a board that is 98 in. long. He wishes to cut the board into two pieces so that one piece will be 10 in. longer that the other. What should the length of each piece be?

Algebra ->  Coordinate Systems and Linear Equations  -> Linear Equations and Systems Word Problems -> SOLUTION: Yuri has a board that is 98 in. long. He wishes to cut the board into two pieces so that one piece will be 10 in. longer that the other. What should the length of each piece be?      Log On


   

Question 116826: Yuri has a board that is 98 in. long. He wishes to cut the board into two pieces so that one piece will be 10 in. longer that the other. What should the length of each piece be?
Found 2 solutions by josmiceli, solver91311:
Answer by josmiceli(19441) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Call one peice x
The other peice must be x+%2B+10
x+%2B+x+%2B+10+=+98in
2x+=+88
x+=+44in
x+%2B+10+=+54in
The peices are 44 in and 54 in
check
Does 44 + 54 = 98? Yes
OK

Answer by solver91311(24713) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Let the short piece be x inches long. Then the longer piece has to be x + 10 inches long. And we know that both of them together make 98 inches, so

x%2B%28x%2B10%29=98
2x=98-10
2x=88
x=44

So the shorter piece is 44 inches, and the longer piece is 44 + 10 = 54 inches.

Actually, if the original board was exactly 98 inches long (as close as you could measure it anyway) the two pieces would be a little tiny bit shorter than 44 and 54 inches because the saw has a finite width and material is removed completely in the process of sawing the board in two pieces. Remember that if you ever do any carpentry.

Hope that helps,
John