Question

Sasha buys two ribbons of equal length. She cuts 9 equal pieces from the first ribbon and 5 inches are left over. She cuts two pieces of the same length from the second ribbon and 40 inches are left over. What is the length of each ribbon?

Answer 1

x = ribbon 1
y = ribbon 2

x - 9p = 5
y - 2p = 40

x = 5 + 9p
y = 40 + 2p

x = y
5 + 9p = 40 + 2p
9p - 2p = 40 - 5
7p = 35
p = 35/7
p = 5

x = 5 + 9(5)
x = 5 + 45
x = 50

Therefore, each ribbon is 50 inches long