At 12 ft support stud is cut into two pieces so that one is three times as long as the other how long is the longer piece

Question

At 12ft stud is cut into two pieces so that one is three times as long as the other.  How long is the longer piece 

Answer 1

let,

 

x = the length of the longer piece

 

x/3 = the length of the short piece since 

 

x + x/3 = 12

 

solve for x and you get 9.

 

the longer piece is 9ft and the shorter piece is 3ft.

 

Answer check: 9ft is 3 times longer than 3ft and they add up to 12ft