SOLUTION: A 25-inch piece of steel is cut into 3 pieces so that the second piece is twice as long as the first piece, and the third piece is one inch more than five times the length of the f

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Question 261671: A 25-inch piece of steel is cut into 3 pieces so that the second piece is twice as long as the first piece, and the third piece is one inch more than five times the length of the first piece. Find the lengths of the pieces.
Answer by texttutoring(324) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
We will call the length of the first piece x.
We can then set up this equation:
25 = (Length of Piece 1) + (Length of Piece 2) + (Length of Piece 3)
Piece 2 is 2 times the length of the first piece, and Piece 3 is 5 times the length plus 1 inch.
25 = x + 2x + (5x+1)
25 = x + 2x + 5x + 1
25 = 8x + 1
Minus 1 from both sides:
25 - 1 = 8x + 1- 1
24 = 8x
Divide both sides by 8:
24%2F8+=+8x%2F8
3=x
x=3