Question

an electrician cuts a 23ft piece of wire into two pieces. one piece is 15ft longer than the shorter piece. how long are the pieces?

Answer 1

x+15

2x+15 = 23

x = 6 ---> 1st

x+15 = 21 ---> 2nd

Answer 2

let : x= shorter wire and 15+x = longer wire
add the representation of the two wire and equate it to 23..
23=15+x+x
23-15=2x
8=2x
4=x --->shorter
*4+15
*19---->longer