Question

A 17​-foot piece of string is cut into two pieces so that the longer piece is 5 feet longer than twice the shorter piece. If the shorter piece is x feet​ long, find the lengths of both pieces.
Question content area bottom
Part 1
The shorter piece is
  
enter your response here feet long.
The longer piece is
  
enter your response here feet long.

Answers

GPT-4o mini
Let's denote the length of the shorter piece as \( x \) feet. According to the problem, the longer piece is 5 feet longer than twice the shorter piece. Therefore, the length of the longer piece can be expressed as:

\[
2x + 5
\]

Since the total length of the string is 17 feet, we can set up the following equation:

\[
x + (2x + 5) = 17
\]

Now, let's simplify and solve for \( x \):

\[
x + 2x + 5 = 17
\]

Combining like terms, we have:

\[
3x + 5 = 17
\]

Next, subtract 5 from both sides:

\[
3x = 12
\]

Now, divide both sides by 3:

\[
x = 4
\]

So, the length of the shorter piece is \( 4 \) feet. Now we can find the length of the longer piece:

\[
2x + 5 = 2(4) + 5 = 8 + 5 = 13
\]

Thus, the lengths of both pieces are:

- The shorter piece: **4 feet**
- The longer piece: **13 feet**

**Answer:**

The shorter piece is **4 feet** long.
The longer piece is **13 feet** long.