Question 1092193
<br>I would take a good look at how the given information is presented before I decide how to define my variables.  Since the problem says the third piece is half the length of the longest piece, I would let my x be the length of the third piece, so that the length of the longest piece is 2x.  I could of course choose a different way to define my variable; however, even I make more careless mistakes when working with fractions than when working with whole numbers, so I try to avoid setting up the problem in a way that involves fractions. So<br>
let x = length of third piece (inches)
then 2x = length of first piece
and then 2x-36 = length of the shortest piece<br>
The total length of the three pieces is 89 inches, so<br>
{{{x + 2x + 2x-36 = 89}}}
{{{5x = 125}}}
{{{x = 25}}}<br>
The lengths of the three pieces are
x = 25
2x = 50
2x-36 = 14