How long should each piece be?

Question

You are working on a project in a wood shop. You have a wooden rod that is 72 inches long. You need to cut the rid so that one piece is 6 inches longer than the other piece. How long is should each piece be?

Answer 1

These are simultaneous equations.

 

You have two unknowns, so you need two equations.  Once you have that, you can use substitution to solve for one unknown, and then find the other unknown by subtraction.

 

1) x + y = 72

 

2) x + 6 = y

 

Can you take it from here?