Cut a 13-ft beam into two pieces so that one piece is 12 in. longer than the other. Find the length of the two pieces.
A) Length of the first piece is 72 in., length of the second piece is 60 in.
B) Length of the first piece is 78 in., length of the second piece is 78 in.
C) Length of the first piece is 72 in., length of the second piece is 84 in.
D) Length of the first piece is 96 in., length of the second piece is 108 in.
E) Length of the first piece is 96 in., length of the second piece is 84 in.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Let x be the length of the shorter piece, then the length of the longer piece is x + 12. We know that the sum of the two pieces is 13 ft, which is equivalent to 156 in. Therefore, we can write an equation: x + (x + 12) = 156. Simplifying this equation, we get 2x + 12 = 156, which leads to 2x = 144 and x = 72. So the length of the shorter piece is 72 in and the length of the longer piece is 84 in, which matches with option C.

Cut a 13-Ft Beam into Two Pieces So That One