The lengths of two pieces of wire are in the ratio 4:7. If the length of the longer pieces is 3.5 m, what is the length of the shorter piece?
One way to solve it is with a proportion.
4/7 = x/3.5
7x = 14
x = 2 m
To find the length of the shorter piece of wire, we need to find the ratio by dividing the length of the longer piece by the ratio.
Let's set up the equation:
4/7 = x/3.5
To solve for x, we can cross-multiply and then divide:
4 * 3.5 = 7 * x
14 = 7x
To isolate x, we divide both sides of the equation by 7:
14/7 = x
x = 2
Therefore, the length of the shorter piece of wire is 2 meters.
To find the length of the shorter piece of wire, we need to determine the length ratio between the shorter and longer pieces, and then use that ratio to calculate the length of the shorter piece.
Given that the length ratio is 4:7, we can set up a proportion using the lengths:
(shorter length) / (longer length) = 4 / 7
Let's solve for the length of the shorter piece using this proportion.
We know that the length of the longer piece is 3.5 m. Plugging this value into the proportion, we get:
(shorter length) / 3.5 = 4 / 7
To solve for the shorter length, we can cross-multiply:
(shorter length) = 3.5 * (4 / 7)
Calculating the right side of the equation:
(shorter length) = 2
So, the length of the shorter piece of wire is 2 meters.