y cut a piece of wood into 3 pieces of the same length. after he cuts off 2 feet from one of the pieces, he is left with piece that is 5 feet long. what is the length of the piece of wood he started with?

x-2 = 5

x = 7

3x = 21

X-2=5

×=5+2 (change sign because you transpose -2 to the other side so that it will become +)
X=7

3 (x)=?
3 (7) (the unknown or the is 7 👆 so that you have to subtitute it)
3 (7)=21 ( the length of the piece of wood he started with 21 )

Let's solve this problem step-by-step:

Step 1: Let's assume the length of the piece of wood that y started with as 'x' feet.

Step 2: y cut the wood into 3 pieces of the same length, so each piece will be x/3 feet long.

Step 3: y then cuts off 2 feet from one of the pieces, which means the remaining piece is now (x/3) - 2 feet long.

Step 4: According to the problem, the remaining piece is 5 feet long, so we can write the equation:

(x/3) - 2 = 5

Step 5: To solve the equation, let's isolate x by adding 2 to both sides of the equation:

(x/3) - 2 + 2 = 5 + 2
(x/3) = 7

Step 6: Multiply both sides of the equation by 3 to get rid of the fraction:

3 * (x/3) = 7 * 3
x = 21

Answer: Therefore, the length of the piece of wood that y started with is 21 feet.

To find the length of the original piece of wood, we can use a little bit of algebra.

Let x be the length of the original piece of wood.

When y cuts off 2 feet from one of the pieces, he is left with a piece that is 5 feet long. So, one of the pieces after the cut is x - 2 feet.

Since y cuts the wood into 3 pieces of the same length, each piece is x/3 feet long.

We know that one of the pieces is x - 2 feet, so we can set up the equation:

x - 2 = 5

To solve for x, we add 2 to both sides of the equation:

x - 2 + 2 = 5 + 2

This simplifies to:

x = 7

Therefore, the length of the original piece of wood that y started with is 7 feet.