Question

Robert needs to cut four shelves from a board that is 2.5 meters long. The second shelf is 18 centimeters longer than twice the length of the first shelf. The third shelf is 12 centimeters shorter than the first shelf. The remaining shelf is 4 centimeters longer than the first shelf. If Robert must use the entire 2.5 meter board for the shelves, what is the length of the second shelf, in centimeters?

Answer 1

first shelf ---- x cm
2nd shelf --- 2x+18 cm
3rd shelf ---- x-12 cm
4th shelf ---- x+4

clearly: x + 2x+18 + x-12 + x+4 = 250

solve for x

(are you not worried about the width of each saw-cut that is lost ?)