Question

"Solve" A piece of rope 5m long is cut into two pieces so that one piece is three fifths as long as the other. Find the length of each piece.

Answer 1

so you have two pieces, pretend one is X meters long. How long is the other piece in terms of X?

Answer 2

3/5? idk lol im really bad at algebra 2

Answer 3

No you're not, that's correct!

Answer 4

OH YAY!! :D

Answer 5

Now, you know one piece is X meters, and the other is 3/5 * X meters. and the total is 5 meters. Can you write an equation to solve?

Answer 6

um x+3/5=5?

Answer 7

Close, you don't want to lose the other X. it's \[x + (3/5)*x = 5 meters\]

Answer 8

OHH forgot the other x sorry

Answer 9

No need to apologize, just recognize :D Now, do you know how to simplify the left hand side?

Answer 10

haha I've been bad at algebra 1 and 2 lol.. do i -x or is it 2x? im not sure

Answer 11

you need to combine the two x terms. You have 1 X plus 3/5 X, how many X is that total?

Answer 12

dang fraction lol that is what i dont get.. i need help on that one

Answer 13

If it helps, you can pretend the Xes aren't there. It's 1 (aka 5/5) plus 3/5 for a total of 8/5. So the equation is 8/5*x = 5

Answer 14

* is times right?

Answer 15

yes

Answer 16

oh then i have to solve it now?

Answer 17

yep!

Answer 18

umm so idk what to do next lol

Answer 19

\[{8 \over 5} x = 5\] what do you guess to do to solve for X?

Answer 20

mukltiply 5?

Answer 21

Try multiplying both sides by 5 first, what do you get?

Answer 22

lol cool i was right

Answer 23

8x+25

Answer 24

See! You know what to do!

Answer 25

watch out though, you lost the equals sign and replaced it with a plus sign

Answer 26

ohh i meant to do = :P
then divide by 8? then it comes out as a decimal im sure

Answer 27

yes it will, but that'll be the length of one side

Answer 28

oh grr the other side lol

Answer 29

so what's the length of the other side? what do you think?

Answer 30

i got 3.125