Question

A stick is cut into three pieces,each having a different length.Each piece(except the shortest)is twice as long as another piece.What fraction of the whole stick is each piece?

Answer 1

Let 1/x be the length of the shortest stick.

Thus, the expressions for the other two sticks are 2/x and 4/x. From this, you get this equation:

1/x + 2/x + 4/x = 1

Multiply both sides by x

1 + 2 + 4 = x

x = 7

Therefore...
short stick = 1/7 of whole stick
middle stick = 2/7 of whole stick
long stick = 4/7 of whole stick

Answer 2

So good! Is there another way of doing this?