Question 310200
A piece of rope 36 feet long is to be cut into two piecies so that one piece is 1/3 as long as the other piece.  How many feet long will the shorter piece be?


Let the shorter piece of rope be S


Then the longer piece = 3S, since the shorter piece is {{{1/3}}} of the longer piece


We now know that: S + 3S = 36


4S = 36


S, or the shorter piece = {{{36/4}}} = {{{highlight_green(9)}}}