SOLUTION: clay shrinks when you fire it, and the % of shrinkage for her clay was 14%. she needed a 10 cm long piece. she added 14% to 10 cm to get the size the piece should be made before fi

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Question 442527: clay shrinks when you fire it, and the % of shrinkage for her clay was 14%. she needed a 10 cm long piece. she added 14% to 10 cm to get the size the piece should be made before firing it. 14% of 10 is 1.4 so she made an 11.4 cm piece. after 2 tries the piece still did not fit.
Did you see what was wrong with her method? What is the correct size the piece should be before firing?
Answer by stanbon(75887) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
clay shrinks when you fire it, and the % of shrinkage for her clay was 14%. she needed a 10 cm long piece. she added 14% to 10 cm to get the size the piece should be made before firing it. 14% of 10 is 1.4 so she made an 11.4 cm piece. after 2 tries the piece still did not fit.
Did you see what was wrong with her method? What is the correct size the piece should be before firing?
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Let x be the desired length.
Equation:
x - 0.14x = 10 cm
0.86x = 10
x = 10/0.86 = 11.63 cm
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Cheers,
Stan H.