Ken has a pole that is 26 inches long. He wishes to cut it into two pieces so that one piece will be 8 inches longer than the other. How long must the shorter piece be?

Question

anonymous · Answer

Hi tendernilla, I can help you out with this one! We will have to set up an equation to solve this question.

anonymous · Answer

We are two different pieces, one of which has a length defined by the other piece. Using the variable x, how do you think we should express these lengths?

blackbird02 · Answer

let x be the shorter piece
x+8 be the longer piece

anonymous · Answer

I think you should let the original poster try their hand at answering the question

blackbird02 · Answer

The equation would be x+(x+8)=26

So,
x+(x+8)=26
2x+8 = 26
2x = 26 - 8
2x = 18
x = 18/2
x = 9

blackbird02 · Answer

The shorter piece is 9 inches long.