Jennifer cut a board (200 cm) long into two pieces. One piece is 24 cm shorter than the other. Define your variable. Write an equation for the situation, and determine the length of the two pieces.

2meters = 200 cm


Length of piece 1 = x cm
Length of piece 2 = x - 24 cm

The length of the 2 pieces = 200 cm

x + x - 24= 200
2x - 24 = 200
+2 + 24
2x = 224

x = 112 cm length of Piece 1

x - 24 = 88 cm length of piece 2

check:
pc 1 + pc 2 = 200
112 + 88 = 200
200 = 200

nicely done!

To solve this problem, let's define our variable:

Let x be the length of the longer piece.

Since the other piece is 24 cm shorter than the longer piece, its length can be represented as x - 24.

Now, we can set up an equation based on the given information:

x + (x - 24) = 200

Simplifying the equation:
2x - 24 = 200
2x = 200 + 24
2x = 224

Dividing both sides by 2:
x = 112

Therefore, the longer piece is 112 cm and the shorter piece is 112 - 24 = 88 cm.