Wire is 35 cm. Long and cut in two pieces the longer piece is seven cm. Longer how long is the shorter piece

Answer 1

Lets call the length of the two pieces x and y.

We know that when they're together, to total length is 35 cm. We can write that as:

x + y = 35

We also know that one of the pieces is 7 cm longer than the other. Let's say x is the longer piece. We can write that as:

x = y + 7

Now we have two equations and two unknowns. If we use substitution, we can plug y+7 into equation 1 for x:

(y+7) + y = 35

2y + 7 = 35

2y = 28

y = 14

If we plug y=14 into equation 2, we get:

x = y + 7

x = 14 + 7

x = 21

Check your work!

Is the longer piece 7 cm longer? Yes!

Do they add up to 35 cm? Yes!

Let me know if there's still any confusion