A worker cuts a 57 feet beam into two pieces. He wants one piece to be 3 feet shorter than three times the length of the other piece. Find the length of shorter piece.
A) 12
B) 15
C) 42
D) 18

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Let the length of the shorter piece be x feet.

According to the problem, the other piece is 3 feet longer than three times the length of the shorter piece, which can be written as:

length of longer piece = 3x + 3 feet

Since the beam was originally 57 feet long and was cut into two pieces, we can write:

length of shorter piece + length of longer piece = 57 feet

Substituting the expressions we have for the lengths of the two pieces, we get:

x + (3x + 3) = 57

Simplifying and solving for x, we get:

4x + 3 = 57

4x = 54

x = 13.5

Therefore, the length of the shorter piece is 13.5 feet, which is closest to answer choice B (15 feet).

A Worker Cuts a 57 Feet Beam into Two Pieces