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? 
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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.