How long should each piece be?

Question

Jose has a board that is 44 inches long. He wishes to cut it into two pieces so that one piece will be six inches longer than the other.

Answer 1

If x is the shorter piece then x+6 is the longer piece and

2x + 6 = 44

Another way, just reasoning it out:

The average of the 2 pieces is half the original board or 22 inches.

Just thinking about it a little, one is 22-3 and the other is 22+3

Answer 2

Hi Tyler,

 

Think of the first piece as length x and the second piece as length y.

 

Then x + y =44 and x = y + 6

 

Substituting the second equation into the first yields:

 

y+6 +y =44 or 2y=38 y=19 and therefore x = 19 + 6 = 25

 

the lengths of the two pieces are 19 and 25 inches.

 

Hope this helps